Maroons Eliminated from NCAA Softball Tournament
SALEM, Va. --- The Roanoke College Softball team fell 8-1 to Emory University in the elimination game of the NCAA Div. III Regional Tournament at the Moyer Complex on Sunday. The Maroons finish the season 31-14 while the Eagles, ranked #4 in the NFCA Coaches' poll, improve to 40-4 and move on to the loser's bracket final against Piedmont.
The Maroons, who have been ranked in the NFCA Top-25 throughout the regular season, led 1-0 after Kelly Higbie's two-out RBI single in the third to bring in Hollee Warlitner. The Maroons also ran themselves out of the inning when Stephanie Clark got hung up between third and home and was thrown out at the plate.
The Eagles, representing the second-seed in the regional, responded with a five-run outburst in bottom half of the third. Megan Light's two-run double and Moira Sullivan's two-run homer were the big blows as Emory took a commanding 5-1 advantage.
Both teams each used two pitchers Saturday before the game was postponed until 9:00 AM Sunday morning. A brief but torrential thunderstorm on a field already soaked from a prior cloudburst that at the time had delayed the second of four scheduled games forced suspension of the contest.
Emory picked up where they left off in the bottom of the fifth as play resumed, scoring two runs and added one more in the sixth to give the final result of 8-1.
Leona Rainey went 2-for-4 in her final collegiate game. She leaves the program ranked among the top-five in seven offensive categories and is the ODAC's career stolen bases leader.
Kelly Higbie, Stephanie Clark and Kayla Dehart each went 2-for-3 to lead Roanoke, while Meghan Weingard and Warlitner collected a hit each for the Maroons. Clark (12-5) took the loss on the mound for the Maroons.
Junior Megan Light collected two of Emory's six hits and also knocked in a pair of runs. Sophomores Moira Sullivan and Micah Scharff each contributed two RBIs in the victory and helped junior pitcher Amanda Kardys to her 24th victory after she tossed 6 2/3 innings of relief.
--- This release is courtesy of the Roanoke College sports information department. ---
http://maroons.roanoke.edu