SALEM, Va. - Freshman Candace Whittemore (Montpelier, Va./Patrick Henry) tossed a shutout and third-seeded Randolph-Macon scored six in the sixth to defeat seventh-seeded Randolph 6-0 Friday evening in an elimination game at the ODAC Softball Tournament.

The Yellow Jackets (30-12) will play a second elimination game on Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

Again the game started slow for the Yellow Jackets, who struggled to find hits early.  In the top of the second Whittemore recorded one of her six strikeouts when she fanned Rachel Hickman to end the inning with the bases loaded.  Again in the top of the fifth Whittemore managed to work her way out of some trouble after striking out Hunter Glave and getting the next batter to ground out to retire the side with runners on second and third.

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth that R-MC's bats finally came alive. Senior Madison Gilman (Glen Allen, Va./Patrick Henry) led the inning off with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner freshman Sarah Cimring (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge).  Cimring was sacrificed over to second by senior Sierra Ford (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) followed by a single from sophomore Harley Jones (Broadnax, Va./Brunswick) put runners on first and third with one out. Junior Jen Balcom (Powhatan, Va,/Powhatan) smoked a single back up the middle to score Cimring and give the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the day. Another single from sophomore Hayden Fontenot (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge) loaded the bases before sophomore Skylar Toth (Midlothian, Va./Clover Hill) poked a single to right field to score two more. Freshman Diane McDaniel (Fauquier, Va./Liberty) reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases once again before sophomore Brandi Mulvena (Farnham, Va./Rappahannock) drew a walk to drive in another run for the Yellow Jackets. Gilman stepped into the box for the second time in the inning and singled back up the middle to score two more and leave R-MC with a 6-0 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Whittemore gave up a leadoff single but then induced a pop out to first base before striking out the final two batters to finish the game and record her first career ODAC tournament win.