Roanoke Advances to Face-Off with Emory on Saturday

SALEM – Roanoke College won 8-1 over Penn State-Altoona in the first elimination game of the 2013 NCAA Division III Softball Atlantic Regional Tournament.  The Maroons now have a record of 31-13, while the Lady Lions exit the tournament with a record of 27-12.

The Maroons advance to game 10 in the tournament, where they will face-off against Emory University on Saturday, May 11th, with a first pitch scheduled for 12:00 PM.

The Lady Lions struck first in the fourth inning as Brittany Smith led off reaching on an error.  She was followed by a single by Kelly Chambers, then Clarissa Keller hit an RBI single to center field to tie the game at 1-1.

The Maroons responded in the bottom of the inning, as Alea Bier led off with a double for Roanoke.  Hollee Warlitner came up next to hit an RBI single to center field to tie the game at 1-1.  Kelly Higbie followed up with an RBI single scoring Warlitner on the play.  After four, Roanoke held a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Leona Rainey started out with a single to third base, then followed by stealing second.  Alea Bierhit an RBI single to center field that brought in Rainey from home.  The next batter, Warlitner hit an RBI ground out, plating Bier.  After five innings, Roanoke led 4-1.

The Maroons biggest inning came in the bottom of the sixth.  Kelly Higbie, Alexis Roop and Meghan Weingard all started out with singles, loading the bases for Roanoke.  Morgan Wood followed with an two RBI single to give the Maroons a 6-1 advantage with no outs on the board.  Rainey came to the plate and hit a two RBI single of her own, bringing home Rhea Schleicher and Weingard.  Warlitner finished the game off for Roanoke with an RBI bunt single, putting the Maroons ahead by eight runs in the sixth inning, automatically ending the game.

Five different Maroons finished the game with two hits each, while Hollee Warlitner led the squad with three RBIs.  Leona Raineyand Morgan Wood had two RBIs each.  Rainey and Alea Bier each crossed the plate twice for the Maroons.  Kelly Higbie picked up the win, pitching 2.2 innings, and giving up no runs, two hits and striking out one.

The Lady Lions were led in hitting by Kelly Chambers and Clarissa Keller, who had two hits each.  Brittany Smith scored the lone run of the game for Penn State-Altoona.  Raychel DeArmitt was tabbed with the loss, giving up four runs off of seven hits.

--- This release is courtesy of the Roanoke College sports information department. ---
http://maroons.roanoke.edu