It took a combined effort from the stalwart veterans and the fresh-faced rookies, as the No. 23 softball team steamrolled the opposition by a combined score of 26-0 in their first three games of the season. In the final game Sunday afternoon, with rain increasing steadily, the Eagles survived a late-inning scare before winning 6-5 in walk-off fashion, completing the weekend sweep to start off the season at 4-0.
The four games were a part of the six-game opening tournament of the season, the Emory Classic, with the Emory playing host to Agnes Scott College and Maryville College (Tenn.).
On the second day Sunday, freshman pitcher Sydney Carpenter tossed a 10-strikeout no-hitter against Maryville to win 9-0 in the morning, while freshman outfielder Alyssa Pollard capped off the Emory Classic with a 7th-inning walk-off single to launch the Eagles to a 6-5 victory over Agnes Scott. Another freshman, pitcher Madeleine Lowery, pitched a five-inning shutout in Emory's 9-0 Saturday afternoon victory versus Agnes Scott.
For veteran junior Megan Light, who plays first and anchors the lineup from the four-hole, it was a fruitful weekend.
"It was awesome to get started," Light said. "With the freshman it's a whole new balance, but it's going really well. Everyone contributed, it was nice to see that."
Junior Amanda Kardys opened the Eagles' season, starting against Maryville at noon Saturday. Allowing only three hits in four efficient innings, with Lowery coming in to pitch the final inning, Emory triumphed 9-0.
"Coming back, it was important to hit my spots," Kardys said.
In her left field debut, Pollard went 3-for-3 with a run batted in and two runs. Sophomore shortstop and leadoff batter Moira Sullivan set the table with two hits, a walk and three runs scored, while Light went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
The second game Saturday afternoon was more of the same, as Emory beat Agnes Scott 8-0.
This time, freshman starter Lowery threw a four-hit shutout, a welcome pitching presence on a staff that is currently without ace Lena Brottman, a junior, out with a sprained shoulder until next weekend.
Offensively, it was the Megan Light laser show as the slugger belted two home-runs, a solo homer in the third and a two-run shot in the fourth, as part of a 5 RBI game. Senior Meaghan Schultz, who plays third, also hit a homer in the game.
"It was nice to work on live pitching," Light said. "It's even more exiting that Meaghan had a homer."
Light and Schultz combined for five hits, three RBIs and four runs scored in support of Carpenter's pitching debut Sunday morning against Maryville.
Having observed Maryville from the bench the day prior, the game in which Kardys started, Carpenter noticed certain tendencies of the Maryville hitters and promptly exploited them.
"Inside and outside, back and forth, not staying in, I realized I had to switch between all of my pitches," Carpenter said.
A right-hander, Carpenter had her curveball breaking outside off the plate to keep Maryville off balance. To counter that, Carpenter would throw a screwball, which breaks inside. Add in a rise-ball to go up the ladder for the hitters to chase, Carpenter was literally unhittable en route to a dominant outing.
However, Carpenter struggled to recreate the magic later on Sunday against Agnes Scott. Having extinguished a runner-on-third, two-outs situation via strikeout in the fourth, Carpenter's hitless streak continued. Entering the seventh with a 5-1 lead, Carpenter struck out the first batter and remained unhittable.
By then it had begun raining, and while technically still unhittable, after getting the first out Carpenter commenced to walk four straight batters.
"It started raining, and I psyched myself out of the game," Carpenter said. "I thought too hard and didn't have all of my mechanics right for my pitching."
Deciding a change was needed, Head Coach Penny Siqueiros called on Kardys, who had started the game, to squelch the rally.
The score was 5-2, and Kardys reentered with the bases-loaded and only one out. A single cleared the bases, tying the score up at 5-5, though the batter was thrown out at second for the second out of the inning.
"I just wanted to get the job done. We got that last out and I knew that my offense would pick us up," Kardys said.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles quickly loaded the bases. It seemed the game was over after freshman right fielder Natalie McLaughlin lined a shot down the third base line. McLaughlin's shot was gloved and the runner was forced out at the plate.
With one-out and the bases loaded, the game tied 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, freshman Pollard strode to the plate, still surprised that McLaughlin's shot down the line did not go through.
"I was really excited. I love hitting, I live for this situation," Pollard said. "Who doesn't want the chance to help the team out?"
The walk-off hit sealed the victory for the Eagles 4-0 and capped off an undefeated and certainly memorable weekend.
Carpenter, who threw a no-no while nearly blowing a game on the same day, all the while maintaining her no-hit streak, had quite the initiation into college ball.
"It was a rush," Carpenter said. "After we got done, I just realized I should have been tired but my adrenaline was kicking."
The Eagles and their nearly even mix of freshmen and returnees resume their season Feb. 16, when they host the two-day Emory Invitational.
While the freshman may be excited, it is the even-keeled veterans who will cautiously solider on.
"This weekend was a good first weekend, because it was probably one of the easier weekends," Light said. "Every weekend from here on out is only going to get harder. We will be playing better teams."
– By Vincent Xu
