From Emory University Athletics

The Emory University softball team concluded its trip to Arizona today by taking on No. 1 Texas Lutheran and Dickinson College. The Eagles fell to Texas Lutheran, 4-2, in a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship Final, then bounced back to beat Dickinson in five innings, 19-4.

Emory has played six games in five days since Friday, when the Eagles began its participation in the NFCA Leadoff Classic at Lincoln Park. The Eagles were originally scheduled to play eight games during the stretch, but its final contests of the NFCA tournament were cancelled as its Sunday doubleheader got rained out.

In the first game today, a meeting of the top two teams from the 2019 season, Emory came up short against the Tigers of Texas Lutheran, 4-2. Madison Schaefer did the pitching for the Eagles and performed admirably against a squad that is rated as the best DIII team in the nation. Schaefer allowed four runs on 10 hits in six innings. The lefty was handed her fourth loss of the season in a matchup that saw her strike out three batters and walk none. Senior Sami Feller and sophomore Krista Colussi each hit a home run, accounting for the Eagles' runs. Senior Greta Wilker joined Feller as the only two Emory batters to have two-hit games. Sophomore Mattie Ryan also reached safely with a clean single.

The Tigers used a solo home run in the second, and added two runs in the third to build an early 3-0 lead. Feller lead off the top of the fourth inning with her second hit of the game, a solo home run, to make the score 3-1. TLU answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame, when a bunt moved a pair of runners into scoring position, but the Tigers only plated the lead runner on a single. Colussi closed the game's scoring with a solo blast in the fifth, with the final tally favoring the Tigers, 4-2.

Emory had little trouble finding its way past Dickinson College in the final game of its trip west. The Eagle offense exploded for a 19-4 win over the Red Devils, marking the squad's seventh victory of the season. Freshman Trinity Pizutti picked up her third win of the weekend by pitching three innings of the abbreviated game. The Red Devils managed to push three runners across the plate while Pizutti was in the circle. Then, she was spelled by Feller in the fourth inning. In her relief appearance, Feller struck out the side in her first frame and would go on to punch out another hitter in the fifth.

At the plate, Emory struck for seven runs in the bottom of the first inning and scored eight times in the fourth. Individually, sophomore Megan Weisenberg and Colussi had productive days at the plate. Weisenberg went 3-for-4 and scored four runs, while Colussi had a double, a single, and two walks to score three runs for the Eagles.