Friday was a day of missed opportunities for the EMU softball team, as the Lady Royals dropped a doubleheader at home against No. 18 Roanoke College.  The women left a combined 17 runners on base in the two games as they slip to 14-8 on the season.

Roanoke 2, EMU 1
Jordan Aylor (Madison, VA/Madison County) and Molly Smith (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) combined for a great pitching effort in game one, but one big hit gave Roanoke a two-run homer for the lead in the second inning.

The women had runners on second and third with one away in the bottom of the second, but two fly balls ended the threat.  Aylor ripped a two-out triple in the fourth to score Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby), making it 2-1, but the Lady Royals wouldn't score again.

They left the bases loaded in the fifth, and wasted a leadoff single in the single in the sixth and walk in the seventh.  Eastern Mennonite left six runners on base over the final three innings and ten total in the game.

Smith (5-1) was tagged with the loss, getting charged with one run in 4.1 innings.  Aylor also gave up a run in 2.2 innings.

Miller finished 2-2 with a walk and scored EMU's lone run.  Brooke Sigrist (Crimora, VA/Fort Defiance) had two singles and Brooke Hensley (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) walked twice.

Roanoke 9, EMU 1
Game two was another pitchers' duel until late.  The Lady Royals scored first when Hensley singled to lead off the third and came home on a two-out wild pitch.

EMU's 1-0 lead held until the game unraveled in the sixth.  Roanoke had runners on first and second with nobody out, when a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt allowed both runners to score and put the Maroons on top.  The hits kept coming as the visitors added a two-run homer and then a three-run blast to blow open a 7-1 lead.

Two more runs scored in the seventh to produce the final 9-1 margin.

Kaitlyn Morris (Elkton, VA/Page County) (3-6) pitched well into the sixth before giving way to relievers.  She took the loss after giving up five runs in 5.1 innings.  Aylor was tagged for four runs in 1.0 inning and Smith threw the final two outs.

Hensley again reached base twice, this time with two singles.  Sigrist finished 1-2 with a pair of sacrifices.

The Lady Royals, who had won 11 of 12 games coming into the day, fall to 14-8 overall and 3-3 in the ODAC.  They travel to rival Bridgewater College on Wednesday, with first pitch coming at 3:00pm.