Ashland, VA --- The WPI softball team fell in game one and staged a comeback for the ages to end with a game two tie with No. 10 Randolph-Macon on Friday afternoon as the team's spring break trip to Virginia continues. 
 
The Engineers (0-3-1) dropped game one 6-1 and rallied back from a four-run deficit to force a game two tie, 5-5. The Yellow Jackets (3-0-1) finished with 19 hits on the day, 12 in game one and seven in game two while WPI put together a 10 hit outing in game two. 
 
Kate Gagne (Portsmouth, VA) scored the game tying run for WPI and was driven home on a two-out, pinch hit single by Kallie Case (Phoenix, AZ) as WPI picked up the tie.  It was the first deadlock result for the Crimson and Gray since a 5-5 draw with Anna Maria in game one of a home doubleheader on March 31st, 2005 and believed to be just the second in the program's history of nearly 1,200 games since 1978.
 
Five different Engineers came away with a hit in game one leg by Emma Nagy (Monroe, WA)  who drove in the lone run of the game while in game two, Nagy, Alex Sheehan (Marion, MA) and Callie Allison (Milford, OH) earned a pair of hits. Allison added a trio of RBIs, Nagy scored a run and drove one in and Sheehan tallied a run in the final game of the day. 
 
Nagy pitched the first inning of action, allowing four runs on a pair of hits without recording an out before Kelly Pritchard (Orange, CT) stepped into the game in relief, throwing the final six innings of action, allowing 10 hits and a pair of runs. In game two Kaitlyn Barr (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI) pitched the complete game, picking up the tie, allowing five runs off of seven hits and finishing with three strikeouts. 
 
Game One
Randolph-Macon put four runs on the board, highlighted by a three-run homer from Kayla Davis (Powhatan, VA) and another two on the board in the second inning of action, thanks to a triple from Naomi Sadler (Emporia, VA) to build an early 6-0 lead. 
 
The Yellow Jackets kept the Engineers off the board until the final inning of action when Nagy blasted her first homerun of the season from the leadoff spot to put WPI on the board. 
 
But it was not enough as the Yellow Jackets finished with the 6-1 victory. 
 
Game Two
The second game of the day featured a comeback from the Engineers. After falling behind 2-0 after the first inning of action, WPI put up a run in the top of the second to cut the Yellow Jackets' lead in half. 
 
Nagy started the inning off with a single to centerfield, moving up to second in the next at bat when Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, NY) laid down a sacrifice bunt. One batter later, an Allison single through the left side drove Nagy to the plate to make it a 2-1 game. 
 
But in the fourth inning of action, Randolph-Macon put together another multi-run inning when they added three runs to the board behind a Reagan Hill (Hanover, VA) homer to gain a 5-1 advantage. 
 
WPI could not be deterred, however, and added three runs to the board in the top of the sixth inning as Sydney Russell (Arlington, VA) started things off with a single down the right field line, moving up to second on a Sheehan single. Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, HI) flew out to right, advancing Russell to third. 
 
With runners on the corners, Nagy stepped up with a single to center to bring home Russell. Ashley Amaro (Taunton, MA) pinch ran for Nagy, sneaking up to second and another Allison single down the right field line drove in a pair to bring WPI within one. 
 
In the top of the seventh, the Engineers tied things up at five-apiece. Shaina Lazarus (Thousand Oaks, CA) stepped in to pinch hit and singled to center to kick things off. Gagne returned to the game to run for Lazarus and after a pair of outs, Case stepped in to pinch hit and keep the Engineers in the game. Gagne stole second getting herself into scoring position and Case came through with a single that was deep enough to bring Gagne home to tie things up as the two teams finished the game with a tie. 
 
Next Up
WPI returns to the field on Sunday, March 10. Saturday's games have been canceled and the team will now face No. 18 Coe (IA) and North Carolina Wesleyan in Rocky Mount, NC beginning at Noon. Randolph-Macon will take on No. 2 Salisbury University in a doubleheader also on Sunday beginning at 2pm.