Eskomos hold off Blue Devils until the fourth

The visiting Virginia Blue Devils broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning and went on to beat the Eskomos 4-0 in a game that was shortened to five innings due to rain and lightning.

"Things were good up until the fourth inning," said Esko coach Huff Emanuel. "Once they went through the lineup twice, we struggled to find ways to get them out and they started hitting the ball hard."

Hard-throwing Ava Warren held the Eskomos in check by giving up just one hit. Miranda Kelley of the Eskomos battled her way through until the Blue Devils started to find their offensive groove in the fourth inning.

"Warren throws hard and she lived on the outside corner and our hitters didn't adjust," Emanuel said. "It was a good game until they got to the third time through their lineup and then they just started hitting everything hard."

Sarah Voss led the Blue Devils with three hits and Anneka Lundgren added two hits, including a double and an RBI.

"In all reality their top four hitters didn't hurt us that much," explained Emanuel. "It was really numbers five through nine that hurt us. I am not sure if we let up a bit, or what."

Kelley finished with nine hits through five innings and was relieved by Zoie Johnson.

"Virginia actually had an 8-0 lead and then it started to lightning," Emanuel said. "We got everyone off the field and then the rain came so we decided to call it at that point since the field was soaked."

Because the inning was not complete the game reverted back to the previous inning, giving the Blue Devils the 4-0 victory.

"Warren did a nice job of staying on the outside of the plate against right-handed hitters and inside on the lefties," stated Emanuel. "We tried to get the girls to move closer to the plate, but we just didn't get the ball in play."

The loss puts the Eskomos at 1-1 on the season.