The Royals are treading water in the heated Old Dominion Athletic Conference softball standings, as they earned a split in Wednesday's home doubleheader with Shenandoah University.  It is the third straight ODAC split for EMU, landing them at 5-6-1 in league play.

EMU 3, Shenandoah 0
The Royals put together five hits in their first at-bat, with Mariah Foltz (Broadway, Va./Broadway) driving in two runs on a bases loaded single.  Unfortunately for the women, they had two more runners thrown out at home in the inning, minimizing the damage.

Nicolette Cuevas (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) pushed the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the fourth, and pitcher Cara Neikirk (Salem, Va./Glenvar) did the rest.  The freshman scattered five hits over 7.0 innings to keep Shenandoah scoreless.  Neikirk also struck out three in the complete game shutout.

Foltz finished 3-3 from the plate with a run and two RBIs.  Casey Racer (Madison, Va./Madison County) was 2-3 with a run and Aislinn Lucas (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) reached base twice with a single and a walk.

Shenandoah 8, EMU 3 – 8 innings
After the quick-moving opener, the pace of the nightcap slowed down.  The Hornets started the scoring with two runs in the top of the first and EMU tied it in the second with a two-run bomb from Lucas.  SU went back in front 3-2 with a two-out tally in the fourth.

The scored remained that way until the sixth, when Lucas led off with her second homerun of the game, tying it at 3-3.  Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) followed with a double, forcing SU to change pitchers.  The Royals eventually loaded the bases but couldn't bring home another run.

Each team left runners on base in the seventh, leaving the score tied and sending it to extra innings.  Shenandoah then sent eight batters to the plate and scored five times, blowing open an 8-3 lead.  The Royals went down in order in the bottom of the eighth to suffer the loss and have their four-game winning streak broken.

EMU had nine hits and four walks in the game, but left 11 runners left on base.  Lucas finished 3-3 with a walk, crushing her second and third homeruns in the past two days.  Brooke Sigrist (Crimora, Va./Fort Defiance) and Brooke Hensley (Elkton, Va./Spotswood) each added two hits.

Neikirk entered in relief during the first inning, but suffered the loss as she gave up five runs in 7.0 innings of work.  She sits at 4-5 after earning both decisions on the day.

The Royals are 12-13-1 as they prepare for the ODAC's top two teams this weekend.  The women host Virginia Wesleyan Saturday at 1:00pm, followed by Randolph-Macon Sunday at 1:30pm.  Saturday is Parent Recognition Day, with Senior Recognition on Sunday.

Coach J.D. McCurdy talks about his team's play against Shenandoah: