WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise softball team earned a pair of Mountain East Conference shutout road wins Sunday afternoon at West Liberty University. The visiting Cavaliers (20-14, 11-7 MEC) won their 20th game of the season with a 4-0 game two win after defeating the host Hilltoppers (11-19, 5-13 MEC) 1-0 in the first game of the afternoon.
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Taylor Brandts (King George, Va.) was sensational in both games, striking out a total of 18 batters in the doubleheader and walking just one while not giving up an extra-base hit. Picking up her fifth consecutive complete game shutout win, Taylor Brandts held West Liberty to seven total hits on the afternoon. She has not given up an earned run since March 29.
 
UVa-Wise lined 18 hits in the two games and did not commit an error in the field. The Cavs scored just once in the first game of the doubleheader but tallied six hits. A pair of doubles in the top of the fourth inning put UVa-Wise ahead 1-0 as junior catcher Bridget Henzel (Toano, Va.) doubled down the left field line before senior designated player Alexa Hernandez (Woodbridge, Va.) doubled to right field for the RBI.
 
The Hilltoppers got a runner on in the bottom of both the sixth and the seventh but Taylor Brandts kept West Liberty at bay to secure the 1-0 victory. Henzel finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, while junior right fielder Zoe Millard (Glen Allen, Va.) went 2-for-4. Taylor Brandts struck out 11 in the seven innings and didn't give up a walk or hit by pitch. Savannah Sieger (7-3) took the loss for the Hilltoppers after striking out nine in five innings of work inside the circle.
 
The Cavs offense clicked in game two as UVa-Wise registered 12 hits and scored four times, but left 13 base runners stranded. West Liberty was limited to just four hits in the contest.
 
After four scoreless innings of play, the Cavs got on the board in the top of the fifth when Henzel doubled down the left field line for an RBI, scoring Millard. UVa-Wise then scored an unearned run in the inning when freshman second baseman Alexis Sheehan (King George, Va.) reached on a Hilltopper fielding error, allowing Henzel to reach home. The Cavs tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Hernandez scored on a RBI single from freshman left fielder Taylor Creasey (Huddleston, Va.) and freshman pinch runner Melissa Bartley scored her third run of the season on a Millard RBI single down the right field line. Taylor Brandts retired three straight in the bottom of frame to make the 4-0 score final.
 
Millard had a 4-for-5 performance at the plate with a RBI and a run scored as senior first baseman Olivia Cleary (Riner, Va.) went 2-for-3. Henzel, Hernandez and Creasey each finished the game 2-for-4, while West Liberty first baseman Sydney Bennington went a perfect 3-for-3.
 
Taylor Brandts improved her record to 12-5 on the season after striking out seven and walking just one in the seven innings. Megan Bosley (1-1) took the loss for the Hilltoppers after collecting five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings of work.
 
The Cavs will now return to Wise and the comforts of Cavalier Field for their second 10-game homestand of the season. UVa-Wise hosts Shepherd University Friday, April 14, before welcoming Fairmont State University Saturday, April 15. Both doubleheaders will get underway at 1 p.m.
 
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