The Emory softball team, fresh off a split of a doubleheader against Birmingham-Southern College this past weekend, prepares for its first road trip of the season when it plays in the Grand Slam Triangle Classic tomorrow afternoon. Emory will play No. 2 Christopher-Newport at 12:00 p.m. EST before the Eagles see Lynchburg at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be held at the Middle Creek Softball Fields in Apex, NC.

Emory, the sixth-ranked team in the country according to the NFCA Coaches' Poll, looks to further establish itself as a DIII power after going 1-1 against No. 15 BSC on Sunday. The Eagles were led by senior second basemen Sarah Katz versus the Panthers. Katz earned UAA Player of the Week honors after hitting .444 with four hits in nine at bats in the pair of games. She collected three RBI on one swing of the bat Sunday, as she dropped a double down the left field line with the bases loaded to clear the bases in the second game that day. A pair of hits in each contest makes her second on the team in batting average. Sophomore Megan Weisenberg and junior Allie Moberg also produced impressive offensive numbers with Weisenberg hitting .500 (2-for-4) a single, a triple and four runs scored, and Moberg checking in with a .429 average (3-for-7) with two RBI and a run scored. 

In the circle for the Eagles against BSC, Madison Schaefer appeared in each game and will likely play an equally large role this weekend. This past Sunday, she earned a complete-game win to begin the doubleheader and made a relief appearance in the second matchup.

Christopher-Newport has started its year with four wins, with two victories over both Roanoke College and Emory & Henry College. The Captains will bring hot-hitting sophomore Kaitlyn Hasty and senior pitcher Aubrey Bates with them to North Carolina. Hasty sports a batting average of .533 (8-15) and has seven RBI and a home run to her name this season. Bates is a righty that carries an unblemished ERA and opponents have only hit .026 against her this year.

Lynchburg is 3-3 to begin its spring, as it swept Methodist in two games after splitting a pair with William Peace. The Hornets were then beaten 4-3 in back-to-back games against Greensboro. Junior utility player Jordyn Vance has been productive at the plate for her team so far, batting .471 (8-17) with three RBI and three runs scored in six games. Pitching duties for Lynchburg are handled by a trio of arms that all have ERAs under 2.30 and have each logged more than 12 innings.

Calling the shots for both teams are a pair of coaching mainstays in Keith Parr for Christopher-Newport, and Dawn Simmons for Lynchburg. Parr is in his 17^th season with the Captains, while Simmons in in her 22^nd season with the Lynchburg squad.