ODAC Softball News Archive

Montclair State University's Red Hawks took advantage of an error in the top of the eighth inning Sunday to plate what turned out to be the winning run for in a 3-2 regional championship victory over Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins. VWC finishes with a 41-8 record, the most wins for any sport in the Marlins athletic program.

Alex Hill (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany Hills) singled up the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday to send in the winning run as No. 1 seeded Montclair State University slipped past No. 3 seeded Virginia Wesleyan College 2-1 in the winner's bracket final of the NCAA's Montclair Regional in softball.

The Roanoke College Softball team fell 8-1 to Emory University in the elimination game of the NCAA Div. III Regional Tournament at the Moyer Complex on Sunday. The Maroons finish the season 31-14 while the Eagles, ranked #4 in the NFCA Coaches' poll, improve to 40-4 and move on to the loser's bracket final against Piedmont.

Virginia Wesleyan's Tori Higginbotham and Kristina Karagiorgis and Roanoke's Leona Rainey (pictured, l-r) were announced as All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) on Thursday night in Salem in conjunction with the NCAA Division III National Championship. The trio lead a list of 15 ODAC softball players who earned All-Region honors.

Roanoke pitcher not only tossed her second shutout of the 2012 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, but she went 3-for-3 at the dish and drove in both of the Maroons' runs as they moved within one game of the national semifinals with a 2-0 win over Luther College. Roanoke faces Linfield at 7:30 p.m. later on Saturday.

Roanoke fell to Linfield College, 6-1, on Sunday evening at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va., eliminating the Maroons from further competition in the tournament. Roanoke received the fourth place trophy (pictured) in the awards ceremony following the game, the program's best finish in three final round appearances.

Roanoke outfielder Leona Rainey (pictured) was named an All-American by the NFCA last week in its annual awards ceremony at the NCAA Division III Softball Championship banquet in Salem. The ODAC was represented by 11 student-athletes on the NFCA All-Region teams.

Virginia Wesleyan was eliminated from the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament during its regional action at Salisbury University. The Marlins fell to Christopher Newport University, 8-6, in the first round on Thursday. The next day, Kean University out-slugged VWC, 13-5, in five innings.

Virginia Wesleyan will be the lone representative from the ODAC in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament, as announced in the NCAA selection show on Monday afternoon. The Marlins earned their place in the NCAA field by winning the ODAC Tournament as the sixth seed. VWC took the shortest route to the title, winning four games including the final against Randolph.

Bridgewater College designated player Emily Morris was recently named to the All-America Third Team by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). The only ODAC student-athlete on any of three All-America teams, Morris heads a list of 11 conference student-athletes named to the NFCA Atlantic All-Region Teams.

Eastern Mennonite took on Greensboro College in the loser's bracket at the Newport News Regional of the NCAA Division III National Softball Championships. EMU took an early lead but had hopes of an NCAA win dashed when the Pride scored five in the bottom of the sixth to steal a 7-3 decision. The loss knocks EMU out of the NCAA tournament.

Four ODAC softball players added honors to their portfolios as CoSIDA announced its academic all-district teams. LC outfielder Lauren Duguay and BC designated player Emily Morris were named to the 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 3 First Team. Eagles’ infielders Leah Cossentino and Angela Spinelli were tabbed to the second team.

Senior outfielder Brittany Allsop (Milford, CT/Johnathan Law) recently earned Second-Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American honors.

Bridgewater College's bid to reach the NCAA Division III Championship finals came up one run short as the Eagles lost to Salisbury University, 2-1, Sunday afternoon.

The Bridgewater College Eagles stayed alive in the NCAA softball tournament Saturday morning by eliminating Lynchburg College, 4-2, at Salisbury University.

Lynchburg College picked up the final regular season victory in the conference on Wednesday evening, giving the Hornets a 16-2 league mark (33-5 overall) and securing themselves the top seed in the 2008 ODAC Softball Championship. Virginia Wesleyan College holds the down the #2 spot while Eastern Mennonite University won the league tie-breakers with Roanoke College for the third seed. Bridgewater College comes in as the fifth-rated squad after joining Lynchburg in the NCAA tournament last season, and Guilford College rounds out the field as the sixth seed.

The Lynchburg College softball team received a first-round bye in the upcoming NCAA Division III Championship Tournament and will travel to Fayetteville, N.C., this weekend to take on the winner of Emory University and LaGrange College. The contest will be held on Thursday, May 8, at 4:00 p.m. The entire tournament will use a double-elimination format.

Bridgewater College and Lynchburg College sit tied at the top of the 2008 ODAC Softball Coaches Poll. Both squads earned 91 total votes with Bridgewater receiving four first place votes and Lynchburg picked up three top nods. Roanoke College was picked third in the survey with 84 votes and two first place selections, and Eastern Mennonite holds the fourth spot with 70 votes and one top tally.

A change has been made to the coaching title at Virginia Wesleyan College for Brandon Elliott. Drop the term “interim” that has preceded the “head softball coach” title he has owned for the last couple of months after stepping in to guide the Marlins’ softball program.

The WildCat Athletics Department announced the hiring of Jennifer Steele as the new Randolph College softball coach today. Steele, a former all-American softball player at Longwood University, will take over the Randolph College (founded as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in 1891) softball program beginning on July 1.

Lynchburg College outfielder Caroline Cubbage picked up her second straight Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) softball Player of the Year award at the annual coaches meeting during the league’s championship weekend. Bridgewater College hurler Lisa Rhodes was voted the ODAC Pitcher of the Year, and Roanoke College pitcher/first baseman Kelsey Ruitenberg was tabbed the conference’s Rookie of the Year.