Maroons Square Off with Host CNU for Spot in Winner's Bracket Regional Championship
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --- Trailing 2-0 since the
first inning, Roanoke College erupted for four runs in the
bottom of the fifth on its way to defeating #1 Emory University,
4-2, in its second game of the 2012 NCAA Division III Softball
Tournament. The Maroons, winners of nine-straight, improve to
31-9 while the Eagles fall to 34-4. The win marks the first
time a women's program at Roanoke knocked off the top-ranked team
in the country.
The Maroons move on to face Christopher Newport at 5:00 PM on
Saturday at Captains Park. Emory goes on to face Salisbury in
the loser's bracket semifinal game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Live video will be available HERE.
The last two times that Roanoke and Emory met were in the regional
portion of the 2006 NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, as the
Eagles took both games from the Maroons. The Maroons are now
6-8 against the Eagles, including a 4-4 mark in the NCAA
Tournament. The program also improved to 15-9 against teams
from Georgia.
The Eagles found themselves in the driver's seat early as Micah
Scharff reached base on an error, followed by a single from Lauren
Gorodetsky. A few batters later, Jessica Boni hit a single up
the middle that scored Scharff and Gorodetsky, giving EU a 2-0 lead
in the top of the first.
It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth that Roanoke started to
shine as Hollee
Warlitner and Stephanie
Clark led off the inning with singles, putting
runners at first and second. After an Emory pitching
change, Caitlin
Manuel avoided a tag on the first base line to load
the bases. However, the Eagles' Lena Brottman struck out the
next three Roanoke batters to keep Emory's 2-0 lead intact.
The Maroons caught fire once more in the bottom of the
fifth. Leona
Rainey reached first after being hit by a
pitch. Alea
Bier followed with an infield single in the hole
between short and third. Warlitner then knocked a first pitch
two-bagger to right-center, scoring Rainey and Bier and tying the
game at 2-2. Roanoke took its first lead when
Clark drove a ball to left field, scoring Warltner from
second. With two outs, Felice
Lowery doubled to left, plating Clark for a 4-2
Maroons' advantage.
That score would hold as the final, as the Maroons recorded the
last six outs over the next seven batters to clinch the
victory.
Warlitner led the Maroons at the dish, going 2-for-3 with two RBI
and one run scored. Clark also had two hits, a RBI, and a run
to her credit. Higbie (26-8) pitched her school-record
31st complete game, giving up two runs off four hits.
After giving up two hits in the first inning, she would only
surrender two more the rest of the contest. Higbie also
struck out four on the afternoon as she broke the ODAC-record for
victories in a single-season. Her 26 wins are third in the
country while her 122 strikeouts this season are the third-most at
RC. Her 38th appearance broke the school single-season record.
Boni led the eagles with two hits and two RBI. Scharff and
Gorodetsky had one run and one hit each in the contest.
The Regional portion of the tournament consists of eight teams in a
double-elimination format. To see the Maroons' Regional
Bracket, Click HERE
For More information on the NCAA Tournament, click HERE.
For more information on the regional tournament at CNU, clickHERE
--- This release is
courtesy of the Roanoke College sports information department.
---
maroons.roanoke.edu