For Immediate Release – 4/16/16 - #312
WildCats Earn Split on Senior Day

LYNCHBURG, VA – The Randolph College softball team split the doubleheader with Eastern Mennonite University, 6-1 and 1-0 on Saturday.  Prior to the beginning of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) twin bill, Randolph honored its four seniors: Rachel Hickman, Jessica Nowak, Erin Wehrhan, and Hannah Winfree.

EMU got on the board in the first inning, as the pitcher Sydney Reath hit a sac fly with the bases loaded.  However, Winfree (3-6) got out of the rest of the inning unscathed and the WildCats answered immediately.  Wehrhan led off with an infield single and was moved to second on a sac bunt.  Hunter Glavé knocked her in after ripping a ball to left center.

The Royals responded in the next two innings.  In the second, the visitors added two to their total, with one coming on a sac fly.  In the third, the team had several hits, with a few to tough spots in the infield and scored three runs.  However, Lindsey Chaney got out of the inning, with the score remaining at 6-1.

Chaney continued to deal in the fourth and fifth inning.  She set the side down in order in the fifth, getting the last out on a strikeout.  She started the fifth with two backwards 'K's as well, before finishing it off with a groundout.

Randolph had two good opportunities to score.  The team had three runners on in the fourth and two on in the fifth, but could not get a runner to cross in either attempt.  Lauren Morris came in to pitch the final two innings and held the Royals without a run, but Reath (11-7) kept them off the board for the win.

Eastern Mennonite threatened in the first inning of game number two, loading the bases.  But game two starter Gracyn Allen-Ingle got out of the jam, ending it with a strikeout.  The WildCats did the same in the bottom half, as Wehrhan walked and Nowak singled.  After Glavé bunted them over, Rebecca Montgomery laid down a perfect bunt, earning a single while Wehrhan scored.

The feature of the next two innings came from Nowak, who had two superb plays in the field.  She had a diving catch on a liner, and then started a double-play on another line out, which occurred during a hit and run.  Both pitchers were also on fire during that time, as Allen-Ingle (5-4) and Lauren Seale (7-4) gave up few runners between them.

The WildCats did threaten in the fourth, with the rally being started by an Alexis Steljes hit-by-pitch, but the 'Cats could not add to the total.  It would not matter as Chaney came in for relief for the second time of the day.  Once again, she was lights out.

Chaney got out of a jam in the fifth, before allowing only one runner to reach in the sixth.  She ended that inning with a 'K'.  She entered the circle in the seventh and set the side down in order for the save, ending the game with another strikeout.

Hickman finished the day with two hits, while Chaney had an impressive stat line: five strikeouts and only three hits in five and a third innings.  Seale was the hard-luck loser in game two for the Royals (25-11 overall, 11-5 ODAC), giving up only three hits and one run.

Randolph (17-15, 4-10) will complete its busy ODAC weekend on Sunday.  The WildCats will make the trek to Bridgewater College (7-25, 2-12) for a twin bill that begins at 2 p.m.

###