Lynchburg, Va. -- Behind a complete-game gem from freshman right-hander Kayley Cox (Yorktown, Va.), the Lynchburg College softball team rebounded from a Game 1 loss to split Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader with visiting Roanoke. The Maroons took the opener, 12-7, before Cox's dominant performance led to a 2-0 LC win in the nightcap.

Cox went the distance in her third win of the season, scattering three hits and two walks and striking out four RC hitters in her first-career shutout.

Junior catcher Brittany Coffey (Manassas, Va.) amassed four hits on the day, including an RBI single in Game 2.

Sophomore left fielder Carol Oberhelman (Washington Township, N.J.) slugged a grand slam for Lynchburg in the opener, and junior third baseman Taylor Mabry (Bassett, Va.) also homered in Game 1.

THE RUNDOWN

Game 1 Final: Roanoke 12, Lynchburg 7

Game 2 Final: Lynchburg 2, Roanoke 0

Records: Lynchburg (22-10, 8-6 ODAC), Roanoke (21-13, 8-4 ODAC)

Venue: Moon Field, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, Va.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Game 1

• The opening matchup featured a multitude of scoring, beginning with Roanoke's two-run rally in the first inning. Lynchburg promptly tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the first when Mabry belted a two-run blast over the center field fence.

• The Maroons retook the lead with a run in the second and extended the lead to 5-2 after six innings as RC starter Emily Salsberry pitched out of several jams, including a bases-loaded, no-out complex in the fifth.

• Roanoke broke the game open with seven runs in the top of the seventh for a 12-2 lead.

• Lynchburg surged back, plating five in the bottom half, but the rally stopped there. Sophomore designated player Sarah Commons (Glen Allen, Va.) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the first before Oberhelman launched the grand slam to left.

• Junior right-hander Taylor Belknap (Arden, N.C.), one of five LC pitchers in the game, took the loss. Hornet pitching didn't receive much help from behind as the LC defense committed a season-high five errors, resulting in four unearned Roanoke runs.

Game 2

• The nightcap proved the polar opposite as both pitchers, Lynchburg's Cox and RC's Teresa Wagner, were on their game.

• Lynchburg notched the only runs of the contest in the bottom of the second. Sophomore shortstop Kayla Hugate (Chesterfield, Va.) led off the frame with a single -- the first of two singles for her in the game -- and sped around to score from first on Commons' double down the left-field line. After a bunt moved Commons to third, Coffey drove her in with an opposite-field hit of her own.

• That was all the run support Cox and the Hornet defense would need. The freshman faced just two over the minimum, making use of three double plays to erase Maroon baserunners.

LOOKING AHEAD

Lynchburg will take a break from ODAC play in the midweek, heading to Averett on Tuesday, April 17 for a 2 p.m. twinbill.

--LC--