For immediate release – 3/31/2015 - #382
Arms perfect in the First W, while Bats Push the Second for the Hornets

SWEET BRIAR, VA – The Lynchburg College softball team swept Sweet Briar College in the final meeting between the two local rivals, 2-0 and 12-0 in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader on Tuesday.  The Hornet pitching staff dominated in game one, and in game two, the offense came alive in a huge way.

Hope Johnson and Elizabeth Fioretti combined for perfection against the Vixens in the first game of the day.  Johnson struck out two of the three batters in the first three innings.  Two fly outs and one ground out kept things clean on the base paths.   The fourth inning saw no 'K's but SBC was still held at bay by Johnson.

In the fifth and the sixth, Johnson struck out three of the six Vixens to enter the batter's box.  All three of them went down swinging, trying to break up perfection. 

Fioretti came in during the bottom of the seventh to close out the game.  She earned the save while fanning two out of three, and completing the perfect game.

The Hornets scored in the third and the fourth to win the pitcher's duel.  Nicole Riley started the third off with a triple.  Jessi Hall hit a deep grounder to short and was thrown out at first, but the depth of the grounder allowed Riley to score the first run.

Leslie Bourgeois walked to begin the fourth inning.  Skylar Seals tripled to plate Bourgeois and give an insurance run, even though it was not needed whatsoever.

Cynthia Schuh allowed only two runs on seven hits in the loss for the Vixens (2-16 overall, 0-12 ODAC).

Game two of the twinbill provided stellar pitching from the Hornets staff, but it was the bats that stole the show.

Hall tripled to start off the game, and scored soon after on a wild pitch.  The next batter up, Skylar Dickens reached on an error, and then stole second to get into scoring position.  Amber Ingram then doubled, plating Dickens for the second run of the game.

After a quiet second inning, LC tallied a few more in the third.  Dickens once again got on base, this time with a single of her own.  As with the first time, she stole second again, and scored on a Danielle Powell double.  After Ingram got hit by a pitch, Bourgeois laid down a perfect sacrifice to push the runners to second and third.  Logan Walker knocked them both in with a single, to put the score at 5-0 after three.

The fourth inning provided explosive fireworks for the Hornets.  Riley and Dickens each stole a base after reaching in different ways (single and an error), putting runners on second and third.  Powell then reached on an error, which allowed Riley to score and Dickens to advance.  It would not matter as the next batter, Amy Bresson, crushed the first home run of her career, scoring all three.  Bourgeois singled right after, and Walker followed it with a two-run shot of her own. 

Bresson added the final run in the fifth as she knocked in Jessica Murphy for the 12-0 victory.

Fioretti, Katie Maddux, and Jamie Robertson struck out eight during the five inning game.

Lynchburg (20-9, 8-2) will be back on the road this weekend.  LC travels to Emory & Henry College for a doubleheader on Saturday, with game one scheduled for 2 p.m.

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