SALISBURY, Md. - Junior
Gracie Ellis (New Kent, Va./New Kent) knocked in the go-ahead run with a single in the fourth inning, as well as recording her twentieth win of the season in the circle to lead the Yellow Jackets to the regional final.
The Basics
Score: (3) Randolph-Macon 6, (4) Manhattanville 4
Location: Salisbury, Md. // Salisbury University // Margie Knight Sea Gull Softball Stadium
Records: Randolph-Macon: 33-6-2 // Manhattanville: 32-12
How It Happened
- Randolph-Macon grabbed the lead early, starting with an Amanda Lanyon (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) infield single to start the game. Lanyon stole second and later scored on a throwing error by Manhattanville to allow Naomi Sadler (Emporia, Va./Brunswick) to reach base safely.
- Sadler would hit a one out single in the third inning and later score, as Olivia Owens (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) singled up the middle to double the Yellow Jacket lead at 2-0.
- Manhattanville would not go away without a fight, starting the fourth inning with a walk from Samantha Walsh and a Sarah Harker single up the middle to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Amaya Esparza launched an Ellis pitch over the left field fence to give the Valiants a 3-2 lead.
- The Lemon and Black would get the lead back quickly in the next half inning, as Lanyon knocked a double into the right field gap to kick the inning off. Rilee Baughan (Warsaw, Va,/Rappahannock) singled off the right field wall to score Lanyon from second to tie up the game and with two outs in the inning Ellis smacked a single up the middle to give Randolph-Macon the lead back at 4-3.
- Randolph-Macon would add two more much needed insurance runs in the sixth inning to build a 6-3 lead. Sadler knocked in Hannah Martin (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) on a sacrifice fly out to center field and Owens scored Lanyon with a single up the middle.
- The Valiants moved one run closer in the bottom of the sixth inning, by way of a Rachel Coleman up the middle to score Harker. Ellis retired two straight batters with the tying run on second base with one out to hold a narrow lead for the Yellow Jackets.
- Ellis stopped any hope for Manhattanville to mount a last inning comeback, striking out the side in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 6-4 victory.
By The Numbers
- Lanyon was lethal in the lead-off spot, going 3-for-4 with a double and scored three times in the game.
- Baughan notched her second three-hit game of the regional, with a double and added two RBIs
- Owens recorded two RBIs with two different singles in the game.
- Sadler and Ellis both had an RBI in the must-win elimination game for the Yellow Jackets. Ellis was the winning pitcher in the circle for the Yellow Jackets, going seven complete innings with nine strikeouts and a walk. The win is the juniors twentieth victory of the season, marking the third straight season in which she has won at least twenty wins for Randolph-Macon.
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will head to the regional final against host and top-seeded Salisbury, needing two wins to win the Salisbury regional. The game is scheduled for 11am tomorrow morning with an "in needed" game scheduled right after the first game.
