Emory junior left fielder Jessica Thomas collected three hits,
drove in four runs and scored three times in sparking the No.
2-ranked Eagles' softball team to a 10-6 victory second-game
win over Berry and a sweep of a road doubleheader. Emory
captured the opening game of the twinbill, 5-4 in eight
innings. The two triumphs raised Emory's win streak to
seven games and boosted its overall record to 34-2-1 while the
Vikings slipped to 19-13.
The Eagles pounded out 14 hits in the second game with five players
registering two or more safeties. Junior Jessica Boni rapped
out a pair of hits and totaled two RBIs while Claire Bailey, Sophia
Tarte, and Megan Light were the other Emory players to hit safely
twice. Emory jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in its half
of the first inning by pushing across all its runs after the first
two batters were retired. After Tarte and Light singled, a
double by Thomas scored Tarte. Boni then followed with a
two-run double. The Eagles extended their lead to 5-1 in the third
thanks to a two-run homer by Thomas, her team-leading ninth of the
year. After a pair of Vikings' runs in the bottom
of the fifth narrowed the Eagles' lead to 5-4, Emory
blew the game wide open with a four-run sixth inning. Light,
Thomas, and sophomore Dana Goodenough all came through with RBI
singles in the frame while senior Brittany Boeshore accounted for
the other ribbie. Junior pitcher Jaclyn Jacobi picked up her
third win of the year in as many decisions, hurling 2 2/3 innings
of relief, giving up four hits and a pair of unearned runs.
In the opener, an eighth-inning single by Zara Louy scored Thomas,
snapping a 4-4 tie and giving Emory the win. The Eagles
picked up 13 hits in the contest, including a double and triple by
Light, while Berry finished with seven base hits. Emory
tallied the game's first run when a two-out three bagger by
Light scored Tarte. The Eagles crossed the plate twice more
the following frame with Catherine Norman and Louy driving in those
runs. Berry battled back to tie the game in its half of the
fifth on the strength of a three-run double by Lacey Herring.
Emory broke the deadlock in the seventh with a run, only to
see the Vikings force extra innings on another RBI double by
Herring. Freshman Lena Brottman tossed a complete game in the
circle for the Eagles, upping her season mark to 14-1 after giving
up seven hits while fanning seven.
Emory returns to action on Thursday when it plays at doubleheader
at Piedmont College.