With two games remaining in the regular season, softball holds the eight seed in the ODAC standings.
This Saturday, the team will face off against Shenandoah at home to close out the season in what feels like a must sweep.
“The two wins will go a long way to give us a chance to get in the tournament. Six teams are fighting for two spots,” Head Coach Joshua Freeman said. “We need to play a complete day and our best softball of the year.”
Two wins would give softball an 8-14 record in the ODAC, and a 10-28 record overall.
But prior to this weekend’s matchup, four ODAC games were played. Two on the road against Roanoke, and two at home versus Randolph.
The women dropped both games on the road against Roanoke with a game one final score of 4-2, and the second game finishing 8-0.
But the team bounced back with a split against Randolph.
In game one, seven innings wasn’t enough to decide a winner.
Wynema Thomas threw 6.2 innings pitched letting up four runs (one earned) with two strikeouts.
Kylie Atkins threw the final 1.1 innings and got her fourth pitching win of the season.
In the bottom of the eighth, Breanna Weaver walked the game off with her single scoring Leanna Bartrug to win the game 5-4.
“It helps knowing you are never out of a game. Keep fighting and good things will happen,” Freeman said.
Game two, Randolph won 11-3.
Saturday verse Shenandoah will play with the playoff standings, but it is also senior day for the team.
“We have to play two complete games, and I hope the senior day hype plays a role,” Freeman said.
Senior day festivities will begin at 11:45 a.m., with game one of the double-header following after at noon.
Four seniors–Kylie Atkins, Breanna Weaver, Kerstin Snyder, and Emily Walker–will be recognized.
“In short, continue to work hard and be good teammates in whatever life brings you,” Freeman said about his message to the seniors.
This Saturday has big implications for softball. With only a one game lead over Randolph and EMU, and a two-game lead over Shenandoah and Sweet Briar for the eight seed.
EMU and Randolph play against each other this Saturday, with Randolph and Shenandoah playing a rescheduled double-header on Sunday.
A lot of playoff buzz will be happening for ODAC softball this weekend, but Freeman wants his team to stay focused on themselves.
“We can’t control the other teams,” Freeman said. “Go out there and win two games on Saturday and hopefully that will be enough.”
Freeman in his first year as head coach at Ferrum said before the season started that his goals for the year were to improve daily, create a culture to represent Ferrum at the highest standard, and to win as many games as possible.
Now, softball is a weekend away from competing in the ODAC conference tournament.
“We’ve competed and fought all year long. Super proud of this group going through a tough year last year and a transition year this year,” Freeman said. “The players continue to be resilient and I look forward to building this program with that resiliency.”
