ASHLAND, Va.—Freshman Candace Whittemore (Montpelier, Va. / Patrick Henry) scored a walk-off two-run double in Game 2 and threw her 15th complete game of the season as the Randolph-Macon softball team swept a pair of conference contests from Guilford Saturday afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets (26-10, 9-5 ODAC) cruised to victory in Game 1 by a score of 7-2 and got the sweep with a 9-8 win in Game 2.

Guilford (22-14, 6-8 ODAC) jumped out to an early lead in the first inning of Game 1 with a leadoff homerun before the Yellow Jackets blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

A leadoff walk from sophomore Brandi Mulvena (Farnham, Va. / Rappahannock) got Randolph-Macon going.  Senior Madison Gilman (Glen Allen, Va. / Patrick Henry) reached on a fielder's choice before R-MC rallied off three straight singles from sophomore Harley Jones (Brodnax, Va. / Brunswick), junior Jen Balcom (Powhatan, Va. / Powhatan) and sophomore Hayden Fontenot (Lexington, Va. / Rockbridge) to tie the game at 2-2.  After a walk from sophomore Skylar Toth (Midlothian, Va. / Clover Hill) loaded the bases, freshman Diane McDaniel (Fauquier, Va. / Liberty) smacked a two-run single to right field to give R-MC a 4-2 lead. Whittemore immediately followed that with an RBI double to right field. Mulvena singled to give the Yellow Jackets a 7-2 lead. 

Sophomore Nelda Bagley (Kenbridge, Va. / Central) went all seven innings, scattering six hits and allowing two runs with two strikeouts, improving her record to 11-6 on the season.

The second contest was a thriller that required extra innings. Guilford got out to another early lead with a three-run homerun in the top of the second.  Randolph-Macon pulled one back in the bottom of the frame. After a leadoff walk from Balcom, Fontenot singled to right, moving Balcom to third. Balcom scored on a sacrifice fly from Toth.

In the bottom of the third, Gilman hit a solo homer to center field. 

Guilford added two more in the top of the sixth to make it 5-2 before a sacrifice fly from Mulvena grabbed another run for the Yellow Jackets.  In the bottom of the seventh, senior Sierra Ford (Powhatan, Va. / Powhatan) led off the inning with a solo homer to left field to cut the deficit to one.  Jones doubled to right field and was knocked in by a double from Balcom to send the game to extra innings. 

In the top of the eighth, Guilford grabbed another run but the Yellow Jackets stayed alive after a single to center field scored Whittemore, who started the inning on second. 

A two-run home run in the top of the ninth gave Guilford the lead once again but Randolph-Macon battled back. Jones started the inning on second for R-MC. Balcom reached on an error by the shortstop.  After a fielder's choice by Fontenot left runners on first and third, Toth hit an RBI single to left field to score Jones. McDaniel was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Whittemore ended the game with a two-run double to right field to give the Yellow Jackets a 9-8 victory. 

Whittemore threw all nine innings on the mound, giving up eight hits and five earned runs.  She also struck out six to improve her record to 14-4.    

Randolph-Macon returns to action at home on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m. for an ODAC contest against Emory & Henry.

--R-MC Sports Information--