Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Box Score (Game One)
Box Score (Game Two)

The Eastern Mennonite University softball team got strong pitching performances from Jamie Fraysher (Waterford, Va./Loudoun Valley) and Nicole Wade (Madison Heights, Va./Liberty Christian) as the Lady Royals shut out the Emory & Henry College offense in two games for a conference sweep.

EMU finishes the 2008 regular season with a 28-11 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. The 28 wins by EMU is a new school record along with a new conference record for wins in a season with 13.

The Lady Royals have secured a birth in the conference tournament, slated to begin on Friday, April 25, at the James I. Moyer Softball Complex in Salem, Va.

Emory & Henry falls to 9-19 on the season and 3-13 in the ODAC.

Third baseman Nicole Shelton (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin) was 2-for-2 in game one with a run scored and two RBIs while outfielder Jessica Blosser (Crimora, Va./Wilson Memorial) was 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Shelton is only seven hits away from breaking the EMU school record for hits in a season of 56 and three doubles away from the all-time record in that category.

Fraysher kept the Emory & Henry bats silent through most of the game as the Wasps were only able to knock out three hits in game one. Fraysher also struck out seven batters in seven innings while allowing only one free pass.

EMU put a run on the board in the bottom of the first and then again in the third inning as Shelton started the two-out rally with a walk. Shelton moved to second as senior catcher Miranda White (Verona, Va./Fort Defiance) reached on a catcher's interference. Freshman first baseman Jessica Sullivan (Midlothian, Va./Manchester) then plated Shelton with an RBI single to left to put EMU up 2-0. The Lady Royals tacked on another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Shelton, scoring Blosser.

In game two the Lady Royals were led by Wade who matched Fraysher's effort in game one with a pitching gem of her own. The sophomore right-hander allowed only two hits and three walks over five innings to pick up her team leading 11th win this season, moving her into a tie for fourth in the ODAC.

EMU scored at least one run in each of the five innings as the Lady Royals pushed three runs across in the first inning. Brittany Caricofe (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt after reaching base on a single and then took third on a double steal with White moving to second. Both Caricofe and White came into score on the next play as Sullivan roped a double to left-center field to give EMU a 2-0 lead. Pinch-runner Megan Barbour (Nokesville, Va./Brentsville District) crossed home plate on an RBI single by Natasha Viafora (Stanley, Va./Page Co.) as the Lady Royals went up 3-0.

Wade sat the Wasps down in order in the second inning on a pair of strike outs and a ground out as the EMU offense went back to work and brought in another run to make it 4-0. The Lady Royals then added another three-run inning in the third as senior shortstop Hayley Shepard (Grottoes, Va./Spotswood), and freshman designated player Dana Hall (Shenandoah, Va./Page Co.) each had RBIs with Shepard scoring the third run of the inning on a wild pitch.

EMU the final run of the game in the fourth inning as the home team looked to close out the game in five. Emory & Henry made things interesting the in top of the fifth as they loaded the bases with one out. Wade got Tuesdee Woods to pop up in the infield for the second out before closing out the win on a ground out to Madden.

Sullivan finished the second game going 2-for-3 with three RBIs with Caricofe going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored. White added another pair of runs scored for EMU as Viafora and Shepard had a hit each in two at bats with a run scored and an RBI.