Day two of the ODAC Softball Tournament was full of drama for Eastern Mennonite, but it was also the day they exited the tourney.  The Royals took one win in the loser's bracket, taking down rival Bridgewater College, before getting knocked out by Lynchburg, 8-5.

EMU 4, Bridgewater 3
The Eagles jumped to a quick lead in the bottom of the first, combining three hits and two walks for a three-run outburst.  EMU answered with a two-out rally in the third.  Brooke Sigrist (Crimora, Va./Fort Defiance) got things started when she singled and stole second.  Jordan Aylor (Madison, Va./Madison County) brought her home with a single, and Molly Smith (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) sent Aylor home with an RBI double, cutting the BC lead to 3-2.

The Royals took the advantage in the fifth, with the same part of the batting order doing the damage.  Sigrist drew a one-out walk and Aylor followed with a single.  Smith launched a triple to right center, scoring both runners to put the women up 4-3.

Aylor then locked up the decision from the circle, allowing only a pair of infield singles over the final three frames.  The junior allowed only three base runners over the final five frames to clamp down Bridgewater's offense and improve to 6-8.

Smith led the Royals by batting 2-4 with three RBIs.  Sigrist was 2-3 with a walk and two runs while Aylor batted 2-3 with a walk, run and RBI.  Mariah Foltz (Broadway, Va./Broadway) also had two hits.

EMU's victory ended a five-game winless streak against their rivals and avenged BC knocking them out of the ODAC Tournament last spring.

Lynchburg 8, EMU 5
The Royals continued on in the loser's bracket, matching up next with second-seeded Lynchburg.  They loaded the bases in the first, and settled for one run on an Aislinn Lucas (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) single.

In the fourth, the offenses finally got rolling, as the Hornets scored three times in the top of the frame.  Aylor tied the score with a two-run double in the bottom half of the inning, making it 3-3.

LC went back up by one on an unearned run in the fifth, and then pushed in four more scores in the top of the seventh for an 8-3 edge.

EMU rallied in their last at-bat, scoring a pair of two-out runs.  But with two runners on base and the tying run at the plate, Nicolette Cuevas' (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) foul pop down the left field line was caught, ending the game and the season for the Royals.

The women out-hit Lynchburg 11-10, but had four costly errors.  Five of the Hornets' runs were unearned.

Cara Neikirk (Salem, Va./Glenvar) gave up three runs in 3.1 innings and got a no decision.  Aylor threw the final 3.2 innings, and took the hard-luck loss.  Only one of her five runs allowed was earned.

Lucas and Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) each had two hits, a run and RBI, while Lucas also added a walk.  Sigrist and Casey Racer (Madison, Va./Madison County) each reached base twice and Aylor had the two RBIs.

Senior Brooke Hensley (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) went 2-4 from the plate in her final game, while classmate Smith finished 1-3 with a walk and a run.

Eastern Mennonite finishes the year with a record of 18-18-1.  It is the tenth straight season closing at .500 or better in Coach J.D. McCurdy's 11 years at the helm.

Senior Records
Brooke Hensley and Molly Smith wrapped up their outstanding playing careers at the ODAC Tournament.  The pair, who have been teammates since childhood, battled each other for a number of records in the EMU history books.

Both players broke Lisa Lee's record for career hits, which had been 178.  Hensley settles on top with 186 hits, while Smith comes in second at 184.  Both also broke Jessica Blosser's mark of 121 career singles.  Hensley again gets the record with 129 while Smith had 128.

A four-year starter at shortstop, Hensley broke EMU's career assists record with 367.  She had between 85 and 100 assists each year.  Smith broke Miranda White's record of 39 career doubles, finishing with 40.  She broke the mark on her final game against Lynchburg.

Hensley ends with a .371 batting average, scoring 129 runs with 105 RBIs.  Smith finishes at .369 with 94 runs and 122 RBIs.