For the first time since 2022, and under Head Coach Joshua Freeman, softball has made their way into the playoffs.
The team currently holds a 9-11 record in conference, with a double header against Shenandoah today at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Ferrum sits in the seven seed going into today’s double header.
A sweep of the Hornets could move the Panthers into fifth.
“We are just happy as a program that we played well enough during the season to play in the conference championship this year,” Freeman said. “It was definitely a team goal to start the season. We look forward to the opportunity next weekend.
To get into the playoffs, Ferrum travelled to Danville, VA to take on the Cougars of Averett University.
Game one was a pitcher’s duel.
The Panthers cracked the scoreboard first sophomore Kaylee Hughes, scoring on a throwing error by the second baseman.
In the fourth Averett took the lead with a two-run homerun.
For the next three innings, neither team would plate a run, resulting in a 2-1 Panther loss.
After the first three innings of game two, the score was knotted at zero.
Junior Macie Bell broke the tie with a single to center, scoring two.
Averett answered in the fifth with a run, making it 2-1 Panthers.
In the sixth, Bell drove in another run on a single to left-center field.
With three outs to go, Averett rallied and tied the game 3-3.
In extras, Ferrum capitalized on an error by the right fielder to take the lead 4-3.
In the bottom half of the eighth, junior Wynema Thomas threw a shutout inning, striking out two to earn her first save and a 4-3 extra-innings win for the Panthers.
“Both games against Averett were super close and two very well-played ball games on both sides,” Freeman said. “In the first game, they got the big hits, and in the second game we did. Either game could have gone to either team, it was a fun day of softball.”
Freeman added the team’s success on the road can help them in the tournament.
“We will be at a neutral site for the first round of the conference tournament. We have played at least one good game or have won against everyone in the conference,” he said. “We are very confident that we can go out and play with everyone in our conference.”
Earlier this week, Ferrum hosted Lynchburg.
The team lost both, losing game one 11-1 and game two 4-0.
“They squared up a lot of balls in game one. We will definitely take a look at the tape and see what happened,” Freeman said. “We did much better game two. Hopefully if we see them again, we can keep them from getting an early lead.”
A roster made up of one senior, four juniors, six sophomores, and seven first years, Freeman is excited about how well his young team has performed this season.
“I haven’t looked in depth, but I can’t imagine any team younger than we are in the ODAC,” he said. “We have a lot of players gaining a lot of experience this year at a young age. It will help keep building the program in the right direction. Playing in the ODAC tournament will give them even more experience to build on for the next few years.”
