CARP, Ont. - The Durham College women's softball team pick up a pair of round robin wins at the first day of the 2024 CCAA Softball National Championship, defeating the University of Ottawa 10-2 and the University of British Columbia-Okanagan (UBCO) 5-0.

Playing in the opening game of the championship, the Lords were matched up against the Ottawa Gee-Gees, the nationals host. 

Durham went ahead early in the bottom of the first as Peyton Jones doubled on a fly ball to centre field, sending Grace Hearns and Jessica Greene across home plate to take an early 2-0 lead.

The hosts responded with two runs of their own in the following inning and kept the Lords off the board in the bottom of the second. In the third inning, Hearns scored her second run of the game off the bat of Jones and Greene later scored her second as Jayden Bennett picked up the RBI.

Emily Taylor touched home to make it 5-2 in the fourth inning, kicking off a six-run inning for the Lords. Durham scored in four consecutive at-bats, with Natalie Clemens and Jones adding runs to their total while Hearns crosse the plate for the third time in the morning.

As the Gee-Gees struggled to find a third out to end the inning, Taylor singled on a line drive to centre field to allow Bennett to score and make it 10-2, ending the game after the top of the fifth inning.

Hearns led the team with three runs in the game, while Greene also had a multi-score day with two. The wealth was well shared around the batting order as seven Lords scored runs in the game. Jones notably went 2-for-3 at the plate, bringing home four runs off her bat.

Makayla Benz picked up the win, pitching all 5.0 innings. She struck out seven of 16 batters faced, allowing only two hits.

The Lords were quickly back on the diamond as their game against the UBCO Heat immediately followed.

After no scoring through the first two innings and staring down two outs in the top of the third, the Lords put a pair of runs on the board after Greene hit a triple to send Hearns home, followed by a double from Jones that saw Greene make it 2-0.

Durham doubled their lead in the fifth inning when Jones earned her seventh RBI of the day, hitting the ball out to left field for the double with Hearns and Greene scoring as a result. 

Hannah Oke added one more run for good measure to secure the 5-0 win for the Lords.

Greene stood out with a 3-for-4 performance at bat, scoring two runs and adding a pair of RBI's to her total.

Jones pitched all 7.0 innings, striking out nine of 27 batters. While only allowing three hits, the Durham defence ultimately shutdown the opposition and kept them off the scoreboard.

The Lords will end round robin play at 10:00 AM on Saturday morning as they take on the University of Toronto on Field 2. Depending on their placement in the standings, Durham will play an additional game or two later in the day.

Follow along at our Championship Central for updates throughout the weekend.

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