Two days ago, the Lady Royals showed they could hit Randolph-Macon, gaining a sweep to end the regular season.  Friday in the ODAC Tournament opener for both teams, EMU only scratched out five hits, but got great pitching and defense to earn a third straight win from the Yellow Jackets, this time by a final of 3-1.

No. 6 Eastern Mennonite advances in the winner's bracket of the ODAC Tournament and takes on No. 2 Roanoke later Friday evening.  All tourney games are being played at the Moyer Complex in Salem, VA.

After EMU went down in order in the top of the first, the Yellow Jackets struck first by playing small ball.  A leadoff walk moved to third base with a sacrifice and a groundout.  Then a two-out single brought home the runner for a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Royals had a quick response in the top of the second.  Molly Smith (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) stuck a one-out single to right field and Courtney Allman (Mt. Solon, VA/Fort Defiance) got plunked by a pitch.  Megan Viafora (Stanley, VA/Page County) sacrificed the runners to third and Jordan Aylor (Madison, VA/Madison County) walked to load the bases with two outs.

Taylor Sellars (Powhatan, VA/Powhatan) then beat out a single to the right side, and two runs scored to give EMU the lead when the R-MC first baseman went to the ground trying to stretch to make the play.  Brooke Hensley (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) added a single to shortstop bringing in Aylor to push the lead to 3-1.

With the lead, senior Lisa Lee (Buckingham, VA/Buckingham County) took over from the circle.  She allowed just four runners over the next three innings.  The offense didn't manage any more insurance, but Lee didn't need it.  She retired the final 11 R-MC batters she faced, securing the win to push the Lady Royals into the winner's bracket.

The women had just five hits, getting three of them in the three-run second inning.  Smith, Allman and Aylor each had a single and a run scored.  Sellars had two RBIs with her single while Hensley had a hit and an RBI.

Lee improved to 11-4 with the complete game win, striking out seven.  She allowed just three hits and walked three.

EMU improves to 26-11.  They lost two games at Roanoke earlier in the season.