INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team is listed prominently in several statistical categories among NCAA Division III schools as of this week's reporting deadline. The Wasps are seeing their off-season work pay off as they are just four victories away from totaling last year's win total, with nearly half of the season still to play.
E&H (10-11, 2-3 ODAC) is poised to reach the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament for the second-straight year for the first time since the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Despite being picked to finish 10th in the league, the Wasps look much stronger in all facets of their game, with the biggest improvement coming at the plate.
As a team, Emory & Henry has already hit 31 home runs this year, eclipsing last season's total of 20 round-trippers by the 15th game of the 2013 campaign. The Wasps are third in the national statistics as a team with 1.48 home runs per game. E&H is also ranks 12th in slugging percentage, with a mark of .550 and is tied for 25th in scoring with 7.33 runs per game.
Senior catcher Ashley Ebersole (Maurertown, Va.) leads the way with 10 home runs, which is tied for third in NCAA Division III. When she hit her 10th shot of the year at Sweet Briar on Saturday, March 30, Ebersole carved her name into the E&H record book, breaking the top mark for home runs in a season. The record was previously set by Dana Dettmar in 2007, the Wasps' last winning season.
Ebersole is currently second in the country with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She has earned that honor courtesy of 17 of her 29 hits coming as extra-base knocks. She is also in the top 10 in RBI per game (1.33 / 9th) and runs per game (1.38 / 10th).
Also among the nation's leaders in home runs are freshman third baseman Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) is tied with Ebersole for ninth in RBI per game (1.33) and hit six home runs to rank 16th nationally. Freshman first baseman Taylor Doss (Damascus, Va.) and junior centerfielder Cortney Halsey (Independence, Va.) rounds out the top four with five and four round trippers so far.
Emory & Henry is scheduled to play six doubleheaders in the next 12 days, five of which are ODAC twin-billings. The Wasps will have their next test to move upward in the league standings on Wednesday as they face the Maroons of Roanoke College at the Moyer Sports Complex at 5:00 p.m.
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