VIRGINIA BEACH -- Junior Andrea Shannon made her second hit of Sunday's first softball game against Bridgewater College the one that counted the most as it lifted the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins to a thrilling 3-2, 10-inning win over the Eagles at Marlins Field.

Shannon (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) hit a hard shot down the right field line in the bottom of the 10th to score rookie Taylor Galvin (Virginia Beach/Kempsville).  With the tie-breaker rule in effect, Galvin was placed on second base to start the inning and moved to third when rookie Kayla Dost (Bristow/Nokesville Brentsville) put down a sacrifice bunt.  Shannon was next.

The thriller was followed by a 5-0 Virginia Wesleyan victory in the second game as the Marlins swept the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader to improve to 31-6.  It marks the third time in four years that VWC has hit or surpassed the 30+ win total. The Marlins also improved to 15-2 in the league.  Bridgewater dropped to 18-14 overall and to 8-8 in the ODAC.

Bridgewater took a 2-1 lead in the opener in the top of the eighth inning when Brooke Throckmorton (Mechanicsville/Hanover) singled through the left side to score Kasey Anderson (Chatham/Chatham) who was placed on second base to start the first extra inning.  She advanced to third on a VWC error.

Virginia Wesleyan came back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, however.  With Dost placed on second base, Shannon singled.  A fielder's choice putMegan Zahnd (Chesapeake/Grassfield) on base, and Kelly Keys (Manassas/Osbourn Park) loaded the bases with a single.  A sacrifice fly to center field by Kristina Karagiorgis (Ashburn/Briar Woods) scored the game-tying run.

Bridgewater threatened in the top of the ninth with runners at first and third, but a strike out and fly out ended it all for the Eagles.

Junior Mackenzie Creech (Hillsborough, N.C./Orange) took the pitching victory, notching her 15th victory of the season in 18 outings.  Her victory total ties the 10th highest total in VWC history.  She struck out a season-high 12 batters, while walking six and allowing just four hits and one earned run.

Heather Jenkins (Locust Grove/Orange County) absorbed the pitching loss and dropped to 11-5.  She struck gave up six hits and one earned run.  Jenkins also led BC hitting with a double.

While VWC outhit Bridgewater only 6-4 in the first game, the Marlins enjoyed a 9-3 advantage in hits in the second game.  Rookie Courtney Bogan (Round Hill/Woodgrove) led the effort with a 3-for-3 showing.  She also scored three runs.  Junior Season Dailey (Norfolk/Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox) and rookies Hali Goad (Richmond/Louisa County) and Dost all had two hits each.  Goad drove in three runs and Dost knocked in two.

Virginia Wesleyan took the lead early in the second game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the second inning.  Dost delivered the big shot in the inning, a two-run single down the left field line.

The Marlins added a run in the bottom of the fourth on a Goad single that score Bogan, who opened the inning with a single.  VWC also scored in the bottom of the sixth, which included singles by Bogan, Goad and Dost.

Karagiorgis pitched for the Marlins and improved to 13-3. She fanned two batters, walked two and allowed just three hits in the shutout.  Aven Thomas (Harrisonburg/Turner Ashby) and Brianna Cox (Bumpas/Louisa) pitched for BC, with Thomas taking the loss.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Tuesday, April 16, hosting Emory & Henry College in a single ODAC contest beginning at 1 p.m.

--AMDG--