Box Score (Game One)
Box Score (Game Two)

Senior outfielder Natasha Viafora (Stanley, Va./Page Co.) blasted a solo home run in game one and then connected for another solo home run in game two as the Eastern Mennonite University softball team split an Old Dominion Athletic Conference double header with Virginia Wesleyan College Saturday afternoon.

EMU dropped the first game in eight innings by a score of 2-1, but came back to hammer out 12 hits in a 10-1 win over the Marlins in game two. The Royals stand in fourth place in the ODAC while Virginia Wesleyan is in second place, pending results from today's competition. EMU will host a conference double header tomorrow, April 13, beginning at 1:30 p.m., as they take on the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College.

The Lady Royals scored their lone run in the bottom of the second inning as Viafora hit the go-ahead home run on the third pitch of the at-bat, her first of the season.

The one run by EMU seemed to be enough as junior right hander Jamie Fraysher (Waterford, Va./Loudoun Valley) was dealing from the circle. The school's career leader in wins (tied with Viafora), had gone four innings without allowing the Marlins to score before an errant throw ricocheted into center-field in the fifth inning, scoring Bree Strain to knot the game up at one.

The game remained tied and went into extra innings with internationl tie-breaker rules going into affect. The Marlins were up first in the top of the eighth and put runners on the corners with no outs on a fielder's choice by Kristy White. White moved to second with pinch runner Brittany Daniels coming into score on an EMU fielding error. Fraysher was able to get out of the inning without further damage but Virginia Wesleyan starting pitcher Brittaney Brown closed the door by not allowing the Lady Royals to get the ball out of the infield, icing the 2-1 win.

Brown went the distance for Virginia Wesleyan, scattering five hits while allowing only the Viafora home run. Fraysher was just as sharp as she pitched eight innings, registering two runs, one earned, on five hits with two walks and four strike outs in the tough luck loss.

Sophomore centerfielder Brittany Caricofe (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) was 2-for-3 from the plate in game one for EMU.

In the second game of the day between the two ODAC schools the Lady Royals broke out there bats as the home team clubbed 12 hits in the game. EMU responded to a Virginia Wesleyan run in the top of the first with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning and followed that up with two more runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Caricofe had an RBI single in the third with freshman outfielder Jessica Blosser (Crimora, Va./Wilson Memorial) scoring the other run in the inning on a double steal.

EMU then put five up on the board in the bottom half of the fourth inning as Viafora connected for her second home run of the day to lead off the inning. Senior shortstop Hayley Shepard (Grottoes, Va./Spotswood) followed with a double and then came around to score on a single up the middle by Mandee Madden (Winchester, Va./John Handley). Madden moved to third on a single to right by Blosser and then crossed home plate on a fielder's choice. Sophomore Nicole Shelton (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin) brought home two more runs on an RBI double and when all was said and done the Lady Royals had pounded out five of their 12 hits in the inning.

The Lady Royals then made it an official win in the sixth inning as senior catcher Miranda White (Verona, Va./Fort Defiance) tied an EMU record with her 11th career home run, third overall this season, to boost EMU to the 10-1 win.

Blosser was 3-for-4 with three runs scored in game two while White finished the day 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs.

Madden had a pair of hits in three trips to the plate, with two runs scored and an RBI.

EMU starting pitcher Nicole Wade (Madison Heights, Va./Liberty Christian) followed the stellar outing by Fraysher in game one with a solid performance in the circle as well, allowing one unearned run on five hits through six innings with two walks and two strike outs.

Mandy Dixon was 2-for-3 for Virginia Wesleyan.