Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CHARLOTTE, N.C.  The Royals Softball team went 1-1 in their first home games in nearly a month on Saturday at Park Road Park. Their opponents West Virginia State came in ranked #31 in the nation and the Royals played two evenly matched games.
 
In Game one the Yellow Jackets would get off to the better start courtesy of a second inning solo blast. But the Royals would answer in the bottom of the frame when Emma Schultz (Silver Spring, Md., Paint Branch) hustled for an infield single that scored Robyn Levine (Raleigh, N.C., Enloe) to tie the game 1-1. Starting pitcher Ashley Rollins would cruise until the top of the fourth inning. After a walk to start the inning, West Virginia State would score two runs on back-to-back hits.

Kaitlyn Bodine (Scottsville, Va., Monticello) came in to pitch to hold the score at 3-1. The Royals best chance to tie the game came in the fifth inning. Megan Lathbury (Georgetown, Del., Sussex Central) came to the plate with the bases loaded, but her fly ball to center field fell just a few feet shy of the wall to end the threat. The Yellow Jackets would tack on a run in the seventh inning for the final score of 4-1. 
 
In Game 2 the roles were reversed as the Royals came out swinging in the first inning. Whitney Britt (Gibson, N.C., Scotland) led off with an infield single. Later in the inning third basemen Noemi Rodriguez (Miami, Fla., G. Holmes Braddock Senior ) hit a double in the right center alley to allow Britt to score the first run of the game. Junior first basemen Kaitlyn Cheek (Richmond, Va., JR Tucker ) followed Rodriguez with a home run to deep left center field to give the Royals an early 3-0 lead.

In the pitching circle for the Royals was freshman Lyndey McCurry (Commerce, Ga., Hebron Christian) who had the Yellow Jackets hitters off balance early on. In the top of third inning the Jackets would get on the board. After a Royals error West Virginia State would double in two runs to cut the Royals lead down to 3-2. Later on an RBI single tied the game at 3-3. The Royals then took advantage of a Yellow Jacket mistake in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead. After the Royals put runners on first and second, Giffin tried to complete a double play but her ball went into right field. This allowed Emily Poulton (Temecula, Calif., Great Oak) to score from second base and put the Royals back on top 4-3.
 
The score remained the same until the sixth inning when an error by the Royals defense proved costly as West Virginia State capitalized to tie the game at 4. In the bottom of the seventh though an error by the Yellow Jackets would prove more costly on this day. The error aloud Levine to move to second base. After a single by Rodriguez advanced runners to first and third with only one out, Cheek came to the plate and laced the game winning hit to right field. Levine scored and the Royals won 5-4. 
 
The Royals have a quick turnaround as they travel to Coker on Sunday for their first conference games of the season. The next home doubleheader will be March 18 vs. Erskine College. First pitch is scheduled at 2:30 p.m.