No. 10 Emory Softball Rolls By Case Western & Wash U In UAA Tourney Action

The No. 10-ranked Emory softball team got off to a fine start at the University Athletic Tournament today with impressive victories over Case Western Reserve and Washington University.  The Eagles opened with a five-inning, 14-2 decision over CWRU before posting an 8-0 five-inning triumph over the Bears of Wash U.  Emory now stands 16-0 on the year.

In the opener, Emory had 10 players account for the team’s 13-hit attack, led by freshmen Megan Light and Claire Bailey and junior Jessica Thomas with a pair of safeties each.  Light knocked in five runs and Thomas added three RBIs in helping the Eagles notch their fourth contest of 10 or more runs this season.  Light drove in her initial run in the bottom of the first inning when she stroked a two-out single that scored sophomore Ellyn Kocoloski, one of four times she crossed the plate.  After the Spartans answered with two runs in the top of the second on the strength of a two-run homer by Courtney Branson, the Eagles exploded for seven runs in the third.  After Emory tied the game at 2-2 following a bases-loaded walk to Kocoloski, Light blasted a grand slam upping its lead to 6-2.  Thomas followed that with a solo blast while freshman Catherine Norman drove in Meaghan Schultz with a single.  Emory then added three runs in the third and fourth innings.  Freshman pitcher Lena Brottman came on in relief to pick up her eighth win of the season in as many decisions, tossing three innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits while fanning two.

The Eagles continued their offensive onslaught against Wash U with Light and Thomas each blasting two homers.  Light’s first round tripper of the game, a two-run shot, came in the first inning and got the Eagles off to a 2-0 lead.   Emory doubled its lead the following frame when a two-out single by Claire Bailey scored Lauren Gorodetsky and Sophia Tarte.  In the third, Emory used the long ball in tacking up three more runs with a two-homer by Light and solo shot by Thomas doing the damage.  Thomas would account for the game’s final run with another solo homer, her seventh of the campaign, in the fifth inning.  Bridget Holloway continued her outstanding play on the mound, boosting her record to 8-0 after allowing just three hits and striking out three. 

Emory continues UAA Tournament action on Friday when it plays Rochester with first pitch slated for 12:30.