The Emory University softball team continued its road trip in Tuscon, AZ, where it is participating in the NFCA Leadoff Classic at Lincoln Park this weekend. On Saturday night, the Eagles fell to No. 4 East Texas Baptist University, 8-5, before beating 14th-ranked St. Thomas (Minn.), 10-2.
In the first game, Emory and East Texas Baptist traded runs in the second inning, as Emory plated two runners in the top of the frame and the Tigers struck for a pair of runs in their half of the inning. The Eagles' runs materialized when they put runners on first and second to start the second. Senior Sami Feller worked a leadoff walk and sophomore Megan Weisenberg was hit by a pitch to set the table. Then, sophomore Natalie Arreguin laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both baserunners into scoring position. A sacrifice fly from senior Jessy McLean allowed Feller to score before Weisenberg reached home safely after East Texas Baptist booted a ground ball. The Tigers responded by scoring on a sacrifice foul out and a single to center in its offensive portion of the inning. They would also add three runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead as the contest progressed into the fourth inning. However, McLean answered with a two-run homer in the fourth to trim the deficit to just one run.
Junior pitcher Madison Schaefer was unable to keep the Tigers' bats quiet in the home half of the frame, as undefeated ETBU hit two-run blast of its own and scored another run on a single to right field. McLean accounted for the final run of the game for Emory by blasting yet another home run, but this one came with no one else aboard. The third baseman finished her day with four RBI and was 2-2 at the plate. Senior Sarah Katz had two hits in her four at-bats, while Feller went 2-3, drew a walk, and scored a run. In the circle, Schaefer pitched all six innings, allowing eight runs on 13 hits. The lefty issued just one walk while striking out four.
The Eagles saw St. Thomas (Minn.) in their second game of the day and got after the Tommies early and often, which allowed Emory to beat the fourteenth-best team in the country in five innings, 10-2. Emory put together a seven-run first inning by stringing together five singles, socking a home run, and working two walks. Katz, McLean, Weisenberg, senior Greta Wilker and sophomore Krista Colussi all singled and eventually came around to score. Arreguin hit her first home run of the season in the big inning, while Feller was the batter that managed to reach via a walk and plate a run. Freshman Trinity Pizutti pitched her first complete game win of her career in the abbreviated game, which was cut short when the mercy rule came into effect in the bottom of the fifth when the Eagles scored three runs. Pizutti struck out a pair of Tommies in her five innings of work and gave up just two runs on eight hits.
The Eagles were supposed to wrap up their participation in the NFCA Leadoff Classic today with games against No. 3 Linfield and St. John Fisher, but inclement weather forced the City of Tuscon to suspend play when the Eagles were up 4-2 in the top of the second against Linfield. However, the Emory softball team is not finished playing in Arizona, since they will stay in Tuscon to play top-ranked Texas Lutheran and Dickinson on Tuesday. The squad will stage a rematch of last year's DIII National Championship Final with Texas Lutheran at 12:00 p.m. EST that afternoon, and will close its westward trip with Dickinson at 2:00 p.m.