SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – UVa-Wise softball went 1-1 against Shepherd University Monday afternoon in a Mountain East Conference road doubleheader. The Cavaliers (21-22, 11-11 MEC) shutout the host Rams (21-12, 14-5 MEC) 6-0 in game one before dropping game two, 5-0.
 
Six runs in six hits and two three-run innings in the top of the fourth and sixth, along with strong pitching by redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Taylor Brandts (King George, Va.), guided the Cavs to the game one victory. Holding the Rams scoreless, Brandts only allowed three hits in seven innings to earn her 12th victory of the season in the circle.
 
After three scoreless innings, freshman center fielder Ava Hockey (Virginia Beach, Va.) singled up the middle in the visiting portion of the fourth to bring home senior shortstop Erika McLaughlin (Haymarket, Va.). In the same inning, the Cavs took a 3-0 lead when senior second baseman Alexa Hernandez (Woodbridge, Va.) doubled to left field for two RBI, scoring Hockey and sophomore right fielder Zoe Millard (Glen Allen, Va.).
 
UVa-Wise got three more runs in the top of the sixth to go up 6-0, scoring the first run on a Hernandez single to the shortstop that brought in junior first baseman Olivia Cleary (Riner, Va.). A walk given to sophomore third baseman Samantha Ely (Jonesville, Va.) with the bases loaded allowed Millard to score before Hockey scored when sophomore catcher Bridget Henzel (Toano, Va.) reached on a Rams error.
 
Shepherd was unable to get anything going in either the bottom of the sixth or seventh as Brandts retired six of last seven batters faced.
 
Hernandez led the Cavs in game one as she went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and tallied three RBI.
 
Game two of the doubleheader proved to be a much different story for the Cavs with UVa-Wise only being able to record four hits, compared to eight hits and five runs by the Rams. Shepherd's Kaitlin Munda shutdown the Cavs, striking out seven batters in seven innings of work to improve to 14-4 on the season.
 
A Kaitlyn Konopka RBI single in the bottom of the first inning brought in Courtney Clemons to give Shepherd an early 1-0 lead. The Rams tacked on two more runs in the home portion of the third off of RBI singles by Munda and Connor Gilligan, which scored Konopka and then Munda.
 
Another two runs in the bottom of the fifth increased the Rams' advantage to 5-0 and the Cavs were unable to get anything going in the final two innings. Gilligan scored an unearned run off of a Rachel Taylor RBI single before Clemons singled for an RBI of her own, allowing Taylor to reach home.
 
Konopka and Taylor led the Rams in game two, each going 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. Hernandez recorded two of the Cavs' four hits in the game to lead UVa-Wise.
 
Brandts (12-7) took the game two loss for the Cavs after four innings of work and five strikeouts.
 
The Cavs will have five days off from competition before traveling to Urbana University Saturday for doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
 
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