Virginia Wesleyan captures 17th ODAC title with dominant win over Bridgewater

The Virginia Wesleyan softball team captured its 17th ODAC championship on Saturday afternoon, defeating Bridgewater College 12-2 in five innings during game two of the ODAC Championship series at Broyles Field.

The victory completed a perfect conference tournament run for the Marlins, who improved to 45-0 overall and finished the season unbeaten in ODAC play at 20-0.

Emma Adams earned the championship-clinching win in the circle after pitching all five innings. The senior allowed two runs on five hits while striking out three batters to improve to 21-0 on the season.

Virginia Wesleyan’s offense was powered by Alison Pollack and Morgan Tucker. Pollack went 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs, while Tucker finished 3-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs. Taylor McQueen added two hits, including a double, and scored a run.

Bridgewater opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI double to take an early 1-0 lead. The Marlins quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning.

Tucker singled to right-center before McQueen added a hit through the left side. Pollack then launched a three-run home run over the left-field fence to give Virginia Wesleyan a 3-1 advantage.

The Marlins added four more runs in the second inning. Riley Curtice and Sarah Prosser each reached base with walks before Laci Campbell drove in a run with a double down the left-field line. Samantha Deitsch later contributed an RBI groundout, and Tucker followed with a two-run home run to center field to extend the lead to 7-1.

Bridgewater scored once in the third inning to cut the deficit to 7-2, but Virginia Wesleyan immediately responded.

Curtice and Prosser opened the inning with back-to-back hits before Tucker delivered again with a two-run single up the middle, pushing the lead to 9-2.

The Marlins closed out the scoring with another three-run inning in the fourth. Pollack opened the frame with her second home run of the game, a solo blast to center field. Olivia Knight later singled before Adams doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Curtice drove in a run with a single, and Prosser followed with an RBI hit to make the score 12-2.

The conference championship sends Virginia Wesleyan into the NCAA Tournament still undefeated at 45-0.