FOREST, Va. - The Emory & Henry College Softball Team has earned its second-straight berth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament, ODAC officials announced Wednesday night. The Wasps finished sixth in the ODAC regular season to reach postseason play for the third time in four years.
Emory & Henry will take on #3 Roanoke College on Friday at 2:00 p.m., at Field 3 of the James I. Moyer Softball Complex in Salem, Va.
Under Head Coach Tommy Forrester, E&H (23-10) has notched back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2003-04. Emory & Henry completed the non-conference portion of its season with a 13-0 record, marking the first time in program history that the Wasps have gone undefeated against non-league teams. With a 10-10 record in the ODAC, Emory & Henry has reached double-digit league wins for the first time since 2007 and only the fifth time in 21 years of softball.
Currently, nine regular players for the Wasps are batting over .275, with freshman centerfielder Leah Elswick (Raven, Va.) leading the way with a .434 average. Elswick ranks fifth in the ODAC in batting, fourth in triples (two), fifth in doubles (11) and seventh in total hits (43). Freshman third baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Va.) has the second-best average on the team (.413) and leads the conference with 10 home runs is second with 37 RBI and a .798 slugging percentage. Hodge also is fourth in the ODAC in runs scored (31), and ninth in batting average.
Senior right-hander Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) has seven wins, three shutouts and a league-leading three saves in the circle with a career-best 2.30 ERA and 44 strikeouts. She has thrown a team-best 85.1 innings, pitching 10 complete games with a 2.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The middle infield of junior shortstop Alyssa Clark (Hiltons, Va.) and sophomore second baseman Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) have proven to be the pillars on which the Wasps' defense is built. E&H has turned a league-high 17 double plays this year, six more than the next-best team. The Wasps have a team fielding percentage of .952 and have caught the third-most runners stealing on the year.
With a win in their first contest, the Wasps will play the winner of #2 Lynchburg College and #7 Eastern Mennonite University at 7:00 p.m. A loss will see E&H take on the loser of the LC-EMU game at 5:00 p.m. Click HERE for an interactive bracket for this year's tournament.
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2015 ODAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
James I. Moyer Sports Complex - Salem, Va.
Friday, April 24
Game 1: #1 Virginia Wesleyan vs. #8 Randolph - Field 1 - 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: #4 Randolph-Macon vs. #5 Guilford - Field 3 - 12:00 p.m.
Game 3: #2 Lynchburg vs. #7 Eastern Mennonite - Field 1 - 2:00 p.m.
Game 4: #3 Roanoke vs. #6 Emory & Henry - Field 3 - 2:00 p.m.
Game 5: Loser G1 vs. Loser G2 - Field 1 - 5:00 p.m.
Game 6: Loser G3 vs. Loser G4 - Field 3 - 5:00 p.m.
Game 7: Winner G1 vs. Winner G2 - Field 1 - 7:00 p.m.
Game 8: Winner G3 vs. Winner G4 - Field 3 - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 25
Game 9: Winner G5 vs. Loser G8 - Field 1 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 10: Winner G6 vs. Loser G7 - Field 3 - 11:00 a.m.
Game 11: Winner G7 vs. Winner G8 - Field 1 - 2:00 p.m.
Game 12: Winner G9 vs. Winner G10 - Field 1 - 5:00 p.m.
Game 13: Winner G12 vs. Loser G11 - Field 1 - 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 26
Championship Game
Game 14: Winner G11 vs. Winner G13 - Field 1 - 1:00 p.m.
If necessary...
Game 15: Rematch of Game 14 - Field 1 - 4:00 p.m.