SALEM, Va. – The #1 Virginia Wesleyan University Softball Team (45-2) collected a pair of wins over fifth-seeded Emory & Henry College (31-14) Sunday afternoon to capture the 2018 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Softball Championship. VWU forced the "if necessary" game with a 1-0 win to start the day and secured the title with a 6-0 win in the final contest of the tournament.
The Marlins won their fifth league title in six years and 11th in program history as they worked themselves through the losers' bracket with six-straight victories on the weekend. Emory & Henry was making its second-straight appearance in the ODAC title game and the third in program history.
The Basics
GAME FOURTEEN – #1 Virginia Wesleyan1, #5 Emory & Henry 0
GAME FIFTEEN – #1 Virginia Wesleyan 6, #5 Emory & Henry 0
LOCATION – Salem, Virginia
VENUE – James I. Moyer Sports Complex
RECORDS – Emory & Henry 31-14 (9-9 ODAC); Virginia Wesleyan 45-2 (17-1 ODAC)
Game Fourteen – #1 Virginia Wesleyan 1, #5 Emory & Henry 0
- VWU threatened in the bottom of the second after Jessica Lindsay reached on a lead-off double. A single into shallow left field by Julia Sinnett gave Lindsay a chance to come home, but E&H senior shortstop Leah Elswick (Honaker, Va.) fired to the plate for the out.
- The Marlins finally broke the 0-0 game open with a run in the fourth. Katelyn Biando singled to start the frame and was driven home three batters later by Sinnett.
- Emory & Henry threatened in the sixth, getting two runners on with two outs, but senior Caley Hodge's (Elizabethton, Tenn.) flare to the right side was just within reach of the outstretched glove of Cassetty Howerin to make the out.
- The Wasps played solid defense through the final two innings but the bats were not to wake up as the Marlins claimed the 1-0 win.
- VWU's Hanna Hull picked up her 30th win of the year in shutout fashion, allowing just one hit while striking out 10.
- Emory & Henry sophomore Tiffany Cole (Wise, Va.) scattered one run and seven hits across the game despite taking the loss.
Game Fifteen - #1 Virginia Wesleyan 6, #Emory & Henry 0
- The Marlins got on the board in the bottom of the first thanks to a flyout and subsequent error, allowing Glaubke to score from second base.
- VWU scored three unearned runs in the second to push its lead to 4-0.
- Lindsay belted a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth and added another insurance run in the sixth on an infield single by Glaubke for the final 6-0 score.
- Emory & Henry was unable to get its offense going in the winner-take-all contest, with its only baserunner coming on an error in the fifth.
- Carla Hall earned the no-hit victory striking out four.
- Wasp freshman Cameron Derr (Cornelius, N.C.) suffered the loss, despite not allowing an earned run on three hits in three innings of work.
Up Next
- Emory & Henry will now await the announcement of the All-ODAC awards as well as the release of the NCAA Division III Tournament bracket.
- The all-conference selections will be released on Tuesday by the league office while the NCAA Tournament field will happen on Monday, May 7 at 1:00 p.m. via a selection show on NCAA.com.
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ODAC All-Tournament Team
Erin Anderson, Emory & Henry
Cameron Derr, Emory & Henry
Caley Hodge, Emory & Henry
Brittany Coffey, Lynchburg
Conner English, Lynchburg
Kerstin Roth, Randolph-Macon
Katelyn Biando, Virginia Wesleyan
Madison Glaubke, Virginia Wesleyan
Carla Hall, Virginia Wesleyan
Cassetty Howerin, Virginia Wesleyan
Jessica Lindsey, Virginia Wesleyan
Julia Sinnett, Virginia Wesleyan
Most Outstanding Player - Hanna Hull, Virginia Wesleyan