The Eastern Mennonite softball women hit the road Saturday afternoon and came home with a split, getting shut out in the first game against Mary Washington before powering to an 8-2 win in the nightcap.

Mary Washington 1, EMU 0
Game one of the doubleheader cruised along in a classic pitchers' duel, with Lisa Lee (Buckingham, VA/Buckingham County) locked up with UMW's Hannah Otterman.

The Lady Royals got five base runners in the game, but each of them came in a different inning.  EMU's best chance to score came in the fourth, when Brooke Hensley (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) reached on an error to open the inning.  She advanced to second on a groundout, but was stranded there after a strikeout and lineout.

The Eagles only put a runner on in the first and fourth innings until breaking through in the sixth.  They got back-to-back singles with one out, the loaded the bases with a walk.  Hensley fielded a groundball and threw out the runner at home for the second out.  But Mary Washington scored the game's only run on a two-out single to left.

Molly Smith (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) had two of the women's three hits.  Rachel Breeden (Shenandoah, VA/Page County) was the only other EMU player to earn her way on base, getting a single and walk.

Lee allowed five hits while striking out four in taking the loss.  Otterman struck out 10 Lady Royals.

EMU 8, Mary Washington 2
After being shut out for the second time this season, the women responded quickly in game two.  In their first at-bat the Lady Royals sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs, despite getting only four hits.  The Eagles hurt themselves by walking one batter, committing two errors and twice failing to get an out on bases loaded groundballs.

Lee singled to start the rally and also had a bases loaded triple in the inning.  Hensley had an RBI single to bring in the final run for an 8-0 lead.

Mary Washington scored an unearned run in the third to make it 8-1.  The Eagles threatened in the sixth with a leadoff single followed by a double, but pitcher Jordan Aylor (Madison, VA/Madison County) got two infield outs and a strikeout to strand both runners.  The home team did score a two-out run the seventh, but Aylor held on to earn the win.

She allowed just four hits in seven innings of work from the circle.

Lee was one of three women to get two hits.  She also scored twice and had three RBIs in the big first inning.  Rasheeda Crews (Brookneal, VA/William Campbell) was 2-4 with a run and RBI.  Hensley also had a pair of hits.  Courtney Allman (Mt. Solon, VA/Fort Defiance) reached base all four trips to the plate with one hit and three walks.

The loss in game one snapped EMU's 10-game winning streak.  Now 12-2, the women finally have their home opener Sunday afternoon, hosting York (PA) on Gehman Field with first pitch at 1:00pm.