SALEM, Va. (BC Athletics) – The Bridgewater College Softball team advanced to the final of Pod 2 of the ODAC Championship after a 3-1 victory over Averett on Saturday.

Game 1
The Basics
Score: Bridgewater 3, Averett 1
Records: Bridgewater 28-14, Averett 25-15

How It Happened
• Averett opened the contest with a single up the middle, but a sharp lineout to Andrea Savage led to a double play as she fired it over to Lily Moyers at first before the runner could tag up. Caroline Malandra singled for the Eagles with one away in the home half of the frame, but she was left stranded after a pair of flyouts.
• Averett put a runner on via an error in the second. The runner swiped second and the throw slipped into the outfield as she made her way to third on another error. Mackenzie Cauthorn regrouped as she struckout the next batter she faced to keep the game scoreless. Savage led the bottom of the stanza off with a single, but she was stranded at second.
• Cauthorn put the Cougars down in order in the top of the third led by a strikeout looking for the second out. With two away in the bottom of the frame, BC struck. Malandra came up with two away and delivered for the second time in as many days with a solo home run to make it 1-0. Bridgewater added to the advantage in the bottom of the fourth as a walk by Savage and singles by Jordan wise and Moyers loaded the bases. Kaelyn Ramsey dug in next and delivered with a base rip back up the middle, driving in both Wise and the pinch runner Molly Ecroyd to make it a 3-0 lead.
• AU stranded a runner in scoring position in the top of the fifth. BC put a pair of runners on as McKenna Mueller singled and Olivia Eastlake drew a walk with one out. A fielder’s choice and a flyout got the Cougars out of the jam. AU pounced on the momentum and a long at bat paid off for Kirby as she homered just over the wall in left field to make it 3-1. The Cougars looked to shrink the lead more as they loaded the bases. With two outs, a ground ball snuck towards the gap on the left side, but Mueller slid over and made the stop and flipped it to Savage at third to get BC out of the sticky spot.
• Moyers led off the top of the sixth with a base rip and Ramsey followed with a walk to put two runenrs on with no outs. A flyout moved the lead runner to third, but a shallow flyout and a groundout got the Cougars out of the jam. AU came to bat in the seventh, down to their last outs. Cauthorn continued to work well and a flyout to Mueller at short stop secured BC’s first 2-0 start in the ODAC Tournament under Megan Pleskovic.
Match Notes,
• Cauthorn (16-7) picked up the win with her 19th complete game of the year. Malandra and Moyers led the Eagles’ offense with a pair of hits, while Ramsey’s two RBI were the difference.
• Zabik (14-6) took the loss for Averett after tossing the opening 3.1 innings and surrendering all three earned runs. Kirby led AU with a pair of hits including the homer.

UP NEXT
Bridgewater advances to the Pod 2 final on Sunday at noon against an opponent to be determined later today.