GREENSBORO, N.C. – Heading into this weekend's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament, the sixth-seeded Guilford College Softball team looks to find their groove and make an impressive run. For the Quakers it is back-to-back appearances in the Softball ODAC Tournament, which last occurred in 2019. This gives the Quakers another opportunity to face off against the third-seeded Roanoke College Maroons who they fell to in pod championship match of the tournament a season ago, sending Guilford home for the summer.

Guilford clinched a spot in the tournament, and then landed the sixth-seed due to a tiebreaker through the five-point system over Averett University. This weekend will be a pod-style double-elimination tournament with game one set for Friday, May 3, starting at 2:30 p.m. ET. Friday's result will determine their game two start time and opponent of either second-seeded Randolph-Macon or seventh-seeded Averett on either Friday night or Saturday with further contests stemming from those results building to the pod final on Saturday.

This year, the Quakers were cutting it close on their chances for a spot in the dance. Thus, coming in as the underdogs and Guilford is looking to show off against their upper-seed opponent. Their record stands at 18-22 in regular season, however in conference play they have a respectable 10-12 record. The Maroons have been hot all year, with an impressive 26-12 record, winning more than double of their losses. In just their last ten matches of conference play, the Maroons have come out ahead in eight. Overall, their conference record stands at 16-6.

"I am proud of this team for the way they have come together and fought for each other, especially over the last few weeks of the regular season," Head Coach Charissa Duncan said. "We have had people step up and fill roles that were key to us being able to compete and finish in the top-eight. Sweeping EMU and scoring 11 runs in each of those games was an example of just how good we can be when we execute in all aspects of the game. We are in the pod we want to be in, with opportunities to play against teams we know we can be successful against. With a large senior class, it makes it that much more rewarding and memorable to make it into the ODAC tournament and be able to extend our season. Especially because this group experienced two shortened seasons due to Covid. These girls don't want their careers to end, so it's been neat to see how they've bonded as a team and come together to fight to make it last a little bit longer."

 

Regular Season Statistics (ODAC LEADER):
Stats	No. 6 Guilford	No. 3 Roanoke
Record (Overall)	18-22	26-12
Record (ODAC)	10-12	16-6
PITCHING
Team ERA	4.00	2.43
Team WHIP	1.60	1.24
Batting Average Against	.310	.238
K/BB Ratio	0.91	2.48
HITTING
Runs Per Game	4.93	4.63
Batting Average	.304	.300
Slugging Percentage	.395	.426
Home Runs Per Game	0.23	0.42
Steals Per Game	2.20	1.16
FIELDING
Errors Per Game	1.58	0.95
Fielding Percentage	.944	.966

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 










 

Individual Player Statistics (ODAC LEADER):
Stats	No. 6 Guilford	No. 3 Roanoke
PITCHING
Win-Loss Record	Shiloh Gray (9-6)	Lindsay Gerdo (10-5)
Innings Pitched	Shiloh Gray (115.1)	Lindsay Gerdo (110.1)
Strikeouts	Shiloh Gray (38)	Maggie McCray (93)
ERA (Min. 40 IP)	Shiloh Gray (2.43)	Maggie McCray (1.39)
WHIP (Min. 40 IP)	Shiloh Gray (1.26)	Maggie McCray (0.92)
Batting Average Against (Min. 40 IP)	Shiloh Gray (.264)	Maggie McCray (.167)
Saves	Shiloh Gray/Alexis Lester/ Taylor Mitchell (1)	Maggie McCray (3)
HITTING
Batting Average (Min. 80 AB)	Chloee Stoner (.361)	Kate Houle (.365)
Slugging Percentage (Min. 80 AB)	Faith Fennell (.506)	Kate Houle (.718)
OPS (Min. 80 AB)	Faith Fennell (.906)	Kate Houle (1.127)
Runs Scored	Chloee Stoner (30)	Heather McQueeney (25)
Runs Batted In	Alli Clemens/Kaci Johnson (25)	Madison Courts (22)
Home Runs	Alli Clemens (3)	Madison Courts/ Kate Houle (4)
Steals-Attempts	Emma Patterson (19-20)	Heather McQueeney (14-15)
FIELDING
Assists	Chloee Stoner (80)	Lilly Burns (75)
Putouts	Faith Fennell (208)	Kate Houle (138)

 
 

























Projected Starters "Limit the errors," Duncan said of her team's keys for success on the defensive and pitching side of the ball. "When we play fundamentally sound defense, we are hard to beat. We had a few errors in our last meeting that made a difference in the outcome of our low-scoring games. Our pitching staff did a great job in the last meeting with Roanoke, producing a lot of routine fly ball and ground ball outs. If we can do that again, and then supplement that success offensively we will give ourselves a chance to win. Keeping the top of their lineup off the bases helps too, because that's where the speed is. They try to get their one and two batters on, steal them over, and then use the big bats behind to push them across."
 
Projected Lineups
Guilford

1. 2B- Chloee Stoner (.361/.381/.438, 48 H, 1 HR, 9-12 SB)
2. SS- Kassidy Lancos (.327/.429/.356, 33 H, 0 HR, 9-9 SB)
3. CF- Grace Calus (.328/.328/.440, 44 H, 0 HR, 17-20 SB)
4. DP- Kaci Johnson (.308/.362/.430, 33 H, 2 HR, 1-2 SB)
5. P- Shiloh Gray (.350/.409/.417, 36 H, 0 HR, 0-1 SB)
6. C- Alli Clemens (.305/.330/.495, 13 RS, 3 HR, 0-0 SB)
7. 3B- Makenley Mitchell (.270/.308/.324, 20 H, 0 HR, 5-5 SB)
8. 1B- Faith Fennell (.322/.400/.506, 28 H, 2 HR, 3-3 SB)
9. RF- Emma Patterson (.367/.475/.367, 18 H, 0 HR, 19-20 SB)

FLEX. LF- Kylie Durden (.125/.125/.125, 1 H, 0 HR, 1-1 SB)

Roanoke

1. CF- Heather McQueeney (.360/.429/.540, 36 H, 1 HR, 14-15 SB)
2. LF- Sammie Murphy (.340/.400/.380, 17 H, 0 HR, 5-5 SB)
3. DP- Molly Epperson (.347/.362/.356, 35 H, 0 HR, 0-0 SB)
4. C- Kate Houle (.365/.409/.718, 31 H, 4 HR, 2-2 SB)
5. 3B- Lilly Burns (.267/.306/.410, 28 H, 2 HR, 1-1 SB)
6. 2B- Madison Courts (.269/.331/.481, 29 H, 4 HR, 2-2 SB)
7. 1B- Lauren Hoffman (.333/.357/.394, 22 H, 0 HR, 0-0 SB)
8. SS- Ally Brown (.326/.420/.395, 14 H, 1 HR, 0-2 SB)
9. RF- Morgan Clark (.271/.345/.271, 13 H, 0 HR, 5-10 SB)

FLEX. P- Lindsay Gerdo

"We have to be disciplined in the box," Duncan said regarding her offense.  "Not chasing the pitch up in the zone when McCray throws, and looking to extend through the drop ball and off-speed pitches when Gedro throws. We have talked a lot this week about the mental side of the game. Our goal is to not let our thoughts get in the way of how we perform. To trust ourselves, and allow the positive thoughts to take over when things may not go as planned. We have to slow the game down each at-bat and work to string together base hits staying through the middle of the field with our approach, as well as using our small-ball game and speed to advance runners into scoring position."

For the Quakers and the Maroons, Saturday, April 27 marked the last doubleheader of the regular season for both squads. The games did not have any significant meaning as both teams had already qualified for the ODAC Tournament and were just jockeying for seeding. Nevertheless, the Quakers made their way to Moyer Sports Complex, in Salem, Va. for their regular season finale. The day proved to be low-scoring throughout, minimal points on the board. After a long day, the Quakers fell in both matches, 3-1 and 1-0.

"I think it has worked out perfectly that we played Roanoke less than a week ago, and that they were both pretty quiet games," Duncan said about the matchup. "I think knowing that we only gave up three earned runs, but only had five hits on the day when we first saw them gives me a lot of hope that we will flip that script this time offensively. I have confidence that we will make the adjustment earlier offensively this time and be able to put some pressure on them by pushing some runs across."

These opposing teams will dual it out late Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET. The game will take place at Carol Estes Park as Randolph-Macon College is hosting four of the top eight teams for round one of the tournament. The second game will either take place on Friday at 5:30 p.m. or Saturday at 11 a.m. with a potential of a second match later that day. If they make it that far, the pod championship would be played on Saturday 4 p.m.

#GoQuakes