Once they got the bats lined up, it was all EMU.

The softball women swept an ODAC twinbill at rival Bridgewater College Wednesday. After breaking open a one-run affair with four scores in the seventh inning of the first game, the offense dumped in seven runs in the nightcap's shutout.

The Royals have now won five in a row against their rivals.

Eastern Mennonite is 20-8 overall and 7-3 in the ODAC after completing a 5-1 road swing. The Royals play their next six at home, hosting Roanoke on Friday before getting ODAC-preseason favorite Randolph-Macon and nationally-ranked Messiah College next week.

EMU 5, Bridgewater 2
The Royals started the day by loading the bases with one out, but had to settle for a single run. Bridgewater answered with three hits in the bottom of the first and tied the score at 1-1.

Then the pitchers took over. BC snuck in a run on a two-out hit in the third to take a 2-1 lead. EMU, meanwhile, was limited to just one more hit until their final at-bat in the seventh.

But that final at-bat turned into a big one.

Down to their last two outs, the Royals got new life from pitcher Lauren Seale (Madison, Va./Madison County). The sophomore ripped her second homer of the season down the left field line, staying fair by a few feet, to lock up the score at 2-2. After a groundball made for the second out, Tiffani Shaheen (Fluvanna, Va./Fluvanna County) re-started things with a double to right. Mariah Foltz (Broadway, Va./Broadway) followed with a single to bring her in, giving the women the lead. Four hits later, EMU scored two more times to grab a comfortable 5-2 lead.

In all, the Royals batted 10 women in the frame, landing seven hits after managing just three over the first six innings.

The Eagles got a leadoff triple in the bottom of the seventh, but Seale got three straight outs to strand the runner.

Seale and Foltz were the only women with multiple hits, which was fitting as Seale tied the game with her longball while Foltz drove in the eventual game-winner. Danyele Smith (Broadway, Va./Broadway) and Aislinn Lucas (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) were each 1-2 with two walks and Sydney Reath (Chambersburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) drove in two runs.

Seale struck out eight Eagles in improving to 5-2.

EMU 7, Bridgewater 0
After a scoreless first in the nightcap, EMU broke things loose with an error-induced rally in the second. With two away, the Eagles committed a pair of errors to bring in the first run. Carli Hill (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) smacked a two-run double and Shaheen added an RBI triple for a 4-0 lead.

Reath, pitching for the Royals, was in control, allowing just a walk and no hits through the first four frames.

She then added an RBI double in the fifth, and Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) jacked a two-run homerun to the left center power alley, her fourth of the season.

Reath allowed singles in the fifth and seventh innings, but a double play erased any threat of a rally in the seventh. The freshman improved to 8-6 while striking out five in the complete game.

Miller finished 1-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in two. Hill was 2-4 out of the leadoff spot with two RBIs and a run. Foltz also had a pair of hits.