INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise softball team split a pair of Mountain East Conference road games Saturday evening at West Virginia State in Institute, West Virginia. The Cavaliers (16-12, 7-5 MEC) picked up a 3-0 game one victory before faltering 4-0 in the second game of the day. The host Yellow Jackets (18-16, 4-8 MEC) collected 11 hits on the day as UVa-Wise lined 12.
 
Both teams left plenty of runners on base in their losses with West Virginia State stranding 10 in game one, followed by the Cavs stranding 11 in the second game.
 
UVa-Wise registered five hits in game one and scored three runs thanks to a Yellow Jacket error and a two-run homer by junior catcher Bridget Henzel (Toano, Va.). The Cavs took an early 1-0 lead in the opening inning when junior right fielder Zoe Millard (Glen Allen, Va.) made it home from second base on a West Virginia State fielding error. Three full scoreless innings ensued with UVa-Wise leaving two runners on in both the top of the third and fourth.
 
A two-out single to left field by junior third baseman Samantha Ely (Jonesville, Va.) in the top of the fifth preceded Henzel's third home run of the season, giving the Cavs a 3-0 advantage.  The Yellow Jackets got two on base off of a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh with only one out but a popup and a ground out ended the game.
 
Ely finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate, while Henzel went 1-for-3 with two RBI. Junior right-handed pitcher Taylor Brandts (King George, Va.) earned her eighth win of the season inside the circle after tossing a complete game and striking out five.
 
West Virginia State's Kayleigh Thompson had a 2-for-3 performance in the game. Emily Thompson (5-6) took the loss for the Yellow Jackets in seven innings of work despite striking out a game-high eight batters.
 
Game two was just the opposite for UVa-Wise. Although connecting on seven hits, the Cavs could not score a run and left 11 base runners stranded. On the other hand, West Virginia State scored four runs on six hits, two coming unearned.
 
The Yellow Jackets earned their first run of the day in the bottom of the first, scoring on a RBI single to left field by catcher Brittany Allison. West Virginia State tacked on another run in the bottom of the third when Kayleigh Thompson scored on a wild pitch.
 
UVa-Wise got a pair of singles in the top of the fifth but left both runners stranded before leaving two more on base in the top of the sixth. Two fielding errors by the Cavs in the bottom of the frame led to two unearned runs for the Yellow Jackets. West Virginia State pinch runner Callie Huck scored on UVa-Wise's second error of the inning with two outs before third baseman Shian Meeks knocked in a RBI single to right field to give the Yellow Jackets a four-run lead. The Cavs tallied two more hits in the top of the seventh and got runners in the corners but could not bring anybody home before the third out of the inning.
 
Ely went 2-for-3 once again to finish the evening 4-for-6 at the plate in the two games. Millard went 2-for-4 in the game as freshman right-hander Raychel Lapallo (North Chesterfield, Va.) (3-6) pitched all six innings to take the loss.
 
West Virginia State got a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI from Allison, while both Meeks and Kayleigh Thompson went 1-for-2. The Yellow Jackets' Amanda McDonald (2-3) earned the complete game win after striking out seven and not allowing a run.
 
The Cavs wrap up their six-game road trip tomorrow at the University of Charleston, game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. UVa-Wise split a pair of games with the Golden Eagles in Wise just 12 days ago on March 20.
 
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