Tuesday was all about offense as the EMU softball women pounded out 26 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Southern Virginia.  The Royals had been scheduled to play an ODAC set at Randolph-Macon, but with rain falling in Ashland during the day, the women ended up exchanging their doubleheaders, moving SVU to today and R-MC to Wednesday.

Eastern Mennonite is now 13-7 overall heading into the games with the Yellow Jackets.  Both teams are 6-6 in ODAC play and tied for sixth place.

EMU 10, Southern Virginia 0 – 5 innings
The Royals scored in four of their five at-bats in the opener, including four spots in both the first and third innings.  The women scored a single run in each of the fourth and fifth innings for the 10-0 cushion.

Meanwhile in the circle, starter Janna Williams (Kenbridge, Va./Kenston Forest) allowed just a one-out infield single in the fourth inning as she earned her first collegiate win.  Cara Neikirk (Salem, Va./Glenvar) pitched the fifth and allowed the only other Knight base runner, who reached on an error.

Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) and Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) led a balanced offensive attack.  Miller went 3-3 with two RBIs and two runs, while Johnson also finished 3-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.

EMU 17, Southern Virginia 3 – 6 innings
The second game had a slow start before things got rolling.  SVU scored the game's first run to take a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Nicolette Cuevas (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) led off the third with her first homerun of the year, and two unearned runs followed to put the women in front.  Southern Virginia tied it in the bottom of the frame, getting a two-run double.

Freshman Cameron Wright (Gordonsville, Va./The Covenant School) then led off the fourth with an opposite field homer, and Cuevas later scored on a passed ball to make it 5-3.  Aislinn Lucas (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) led off the fifth with a solo shot, giving EMU three straight innings with a leadoff homerun.

The Royals made it four in a row in the sixth, as Mariah Foltz (Broadway, Va./Broadway) and Danyele Smith (Broadway, Va./Broadway) went back-to-back, and the floodgates opened.  That triggered a 14-batter, 10-run inning, as Foltz and Smith each added a two-run hit later to rack up three RBIs in the frame.  When the dust settled, EMU had their mercy-margin to win in six.

EMU had five homeruns in the 16-hit attack.  Foltz finished 3-3 with three RBIs and two runs.  Smith was 3-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.  Lucas batted 3-5 with three runs and two RBIs and Cuevas touched home three times.  Vivian Maddox (Rustburg, Va./Brookville) also had three hits.

Lauren Seale (Madison, Va./Madison County) relieved starter Lauren Campbell (Stuarts Draft, Va./Stuarts Draft) in the third and earned the win with 2.1 shutout innings.

The Royals have now scored 38 runs in their last three games, all mercy-shortened wins.

Game time at Randolph-Macon on Wednesday is 3:00pm.