The Emory University women's softball team returned to Cooper Field on Monday afternoon defeating the St. Olaf Oles in a doubleheader in Atlanta.
The Eagles improve to 14-6 on the season with the 8-7 walk off win in game one and the 10-1 win in game two. Sophomore Mackenzie Duford had one of her best days in the circle allowing just four hits to the Oles in game two. Freshman Ellie Zerr highlighted Emory's offense with a game-leading grand slam in the sixth inning of game two.
Game 1: Emory 8, St. Olaf 7
The Oles jumped to an early lead in the top of the first getting their first three batters on base with a walk and two singles. A sacrifice fly brought in their first run of the day before a long home run to left-center brought in three more runs giving the Oles a 4-0 lead.
The Eagles answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning with sophomore Ashley Chu leading off the inning with a single to first base. Senior Page Nellis followed with a fielder's choice moving Chu to third base before the RBI machine Zerbrought in a run with a groundout to the shortstop. Fellow freshman Grace Cooper followed with another fielder's choice to score Nellis before a double up the middle from freshman Sonia Klein brought in Emory's third run of the inning.
Freshman Lexi Bach was able to hold the Oles scoreless through the second and third inning allowing just two hits before St. Olaf scored three more runs in the top of the fourth inning on the team's second home run of the game. Back-to-back singles from sophomore Ella Hoyle and junior Kayla Lang and a walk from Chu loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth but the Eagles were unable to capitalize on the momentum and left the bases loaded.
Working in relief, Duford was rolling through the fifth and sixth giving up just one hit and getting three quick outs holding the Oles to a 6-3 lead after the top of the sixth.
Emory saw two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth before back-to-back singles from Chu and freshman Lillian Ware and a walk from Nellis loaded the bases. Zerr then drove a two-out home run to center field giving the Eagles a 7-6 lead over St. Olaf.
The Oles weren't done scoring adding another run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to tie the game at seven. The Eagles were looking for another walk off in the bottom of the seventh with Hoyle driving a one-out double down the left field line. With two outs in the inning, Ware recorded a single to the right fielder before Hoyle was able to score on a bobble from the right fielder to walk off the game.
Game 2: Emory 10, St. Olaf 1 (5 inn.)
Duford returned to the circle for the start of game two getting three quick outs in the top of the first inning holding the Oles to just one base runner.
The Eagles jumped to an early lead in the bottom half of the first with Chu and Nellis starting the inning with back-to-back singles. A walk to Zerr loaded the bases before a single up the middle from Cooper brought in two runs for the Eagles. Klein was able to get on base after being hit by a pitch followed by a sacrifice fly from Hoyle to score Cooper. Klein later scored on a passed ball to give Emory a 4-0 lead after the first.
Once again, Duford continued to be efficient in the circle allowing just two hits to St. Olaf in the third and fourth inning but was able to keep them scoreless. The bottom of the fourth was another big one for the Eagles tacking on six more runs on four hits in the inning. Lang and Hoyle highlighted the inning notching back-to-back doubles to start the scoring run for the Eagles with three more walks and a single from Chu helping broaden Emory's lead.
The Oles were able to capitalize on errors from Emory's defense in the top of the fifth inning but freshman Georgia Pineda came in relief for Duford and was able to close the game securing the win.
The Eagles will begin UAA conference play this season facing the Carnegie Mellon Tartans in a four-game series with game one on Friday, March 29 at 3:00 PM in Atlanta, Georgia.