After starting conference play 4-4 at home, softball had its first road contests in the ODAC.
On April 5, the team traveled to Randolph College for a double header.
In game one, it was a defensive battle.
The Panthers got on the board with a sacrifice fly from junior Emily Hopper.
The score stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning when first-year Emily Wood doubled to right center, clearing the bases, driving in three to extend the lead to 4-0.
Wood also started game one in the circle and pitched her third straight complete game, striking out four, and allowing just one earned run in her last 21 innings pitched.
Wood held Randolph to just three hits, but the Panthers only tallied two hits in the contest.
Strong pitching and defense led to Ferrum shutting out the Wildcats 4-0.
“Whenever you shut out your opponent, it is a good day in the circle and on defense,” Head Coach Joshua Freeman said. “When we throw strikes and play good defense, we can hold teams down pretty well this year.”
Although the team only got two hits, the team walked six times, and Freeman thought the offense still played good.
“I thought we hit the ball well in the first game; we just couldn’t find holes,” he said. “The two hits were with runners on base, so those obviously came at a great time.”
To begin game two, the score was knotted at zero for the first three innings.
In the fourth, the Panthers put up a four spot.
Senior Autumn McMillen got the team on the board with her two-run single to center.
First-year Nicole Emerson followed with a two-run single of her own to left.
The offense added one in the fifth, courtesy of sophomore Riley Young’s double to center, and another in the sixth with first-year Sophia Peters reaching on an error and scoring Emerson.
“We did not change our approach game two and stuck with what was working,” Freeman said. “We just found a few extra gaps and were able to score a few more runs.”
Strong pitching and defense stayed for game two as well.
First-year Amber Greiner threw 6.1 shutout innings, allowing seven hits, and striking out two.
Junior Wynema Thomas pitched the final 0.2 innings to complete the weekend shutout for the Panthers, winning game two 6-0.
“To go on the road in the ODAC and get two shutout wins is very tough to do,” Freeman said. “I think the team this year is building confidence in every win we have.”
On April 8, the team traveled to Greensboro, NC to take on Guilford College.
The Quakers struck early with two runs in the bottom of the second, but the Panthers were quick to respond as Peters’ three-run home run gave Ferrum the lead 3-2.
“They struck early, and then we got a huge three-run bomb from Sophia Peters to put us on top. That momentum carried us throughout the ball game until they scratched late,” Freeman said.
There was no score through the fourth and fifth innings, but in the bottom of the sixth, Guilford scored one, tying the game at three.
In the top of the seventh, Hopper reached on an error by the second baseman, scoring junior Carsen Hogston to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead.
The Panthers couldn’t end the game in the bottom of the seventh as the Quakers scored on a sac fly to send it into extra innings.
The offense kept its foot on the gas, scoring two in the eighth.
First-year Mirenda Shields singled to center, and Young singled to right-center field, giving the team a 6-4 lead going into the bottom half.
Wood got the final three outs in the circle, pitching all eight innings for her fourth consecutive complete game to help Ferrum earn a 6-4 extra-innings win.
In her eight innings of work, she allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits, striking out seven.
“It was actually the first back-and-forth game we have had all year, and we responded great by not once but twice after they tied it, we scored the following inning. It was a really fun ball game,” Freeman said.
In game two against Guilford, the Quakers took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Thomas singled to left, driving in the tying run in the top of the second.
That would be the last run the Panther offense would score for the day.
Guilford would take and extend their lead in the fourth, scoring four to take a 5-1 lead.
They would add another run in the sixth, resulting in a 6-1 Panther loss, ending the team’s win streak at five games.
The Panthers move their record to 11-15 overall, and 7-5 in the ODAC.
The team currently sits in fifth place in the conference but battles the top seeded Virginia Wesleyan on the road tomorrow.
On Sunday, the team comes back home and hosts Sweet Briar in a conference double header.
Prior to game one against Sweet Briar, Senior Day recognition will take place, honoring the team’s only senior, Autumn McMillen.
