SALEM, Va. --- Virginia Wesleyan College is the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) champion in softball for the third time in four years.  The top-seeded Marlins (37-5) capped an undefeated run through the 2014 title event at the James I. Moyer Complex in Salem with a 5-2 victory over the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College.  The championship is the VWC's eighth overall, tying Roanoke for the most ODAC softball titles in league history.

Sunday's title win over Randolph-Macon (26-12) was the second in the tournament for the Marlins, who finished 4-0 in the event for the third time in four years.  Virginia Wesleyan, which has compiled a 19-4 record in ODAC tourney play in the last five years, outscored foes 32-5 in this year's event en route to tourney wins over Bridgewater College (10-2), Guilford College (9-0), and R-MC (8-1 and 5-2).

While the Marlins pick up the ODAC trophy, they have also earned the league's automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Division III championship tournament.  The field for the 2014 tournament will be announced on May 5. Virginia Wesleyan will compete in the national tournament for the fifth time overall and third time in the last four years.

The Marlins earned that NCAA ticket by jumping on the Yellow Jackets early.  Senior Tori Higginbotham (Glen Allen/J.R. Tucker),  who earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors, led off the first inning with a single to left, stole second, and advanced to third on a single by Kayla Malkos (Roanoke/Cave Spring). Senior Season Dailey (Norfolk/Virginia Beach Frank W. Cox) singled to right to score one run. She also helped score a second run as she attempted to steal second base, giving Malkos time to race home to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.

VWC junior pitcher Kristina Karagiorgis (Ashburn/Briar Woods) and the Marlin defense shut down R-MC quickly in the bottom of the inning.  She struck out the first batter and hit a batter to put a Jacket on base, before the inning ended on a double play as senior shortstop Andrea Shannon (Newville, Pa./Big Spring) combined with Dailey at first to take R-MC out of the inning.

Virginia Wesleyan rode that lead into the top of the fourth inning when the Marlins started to pull away with two more runs. After senior Lindsay Inzana (Chesapeake/Grassfield) led off the inning with a single, sophomore Courtney Bogan(Round Hill/Woodgrove) reached base on a fielder's choice. She moved to third on a Shannon single and stole home for a 3-0 lead.  Senior Megan Zahnd(Chesapeake/Grassfield) ripped an RBI-double to give VWC a 4-0 advantage.

R-MC took back one of those runs in the bottom of the inning when Sam Moore (Ashland/Patrick Henry) cranked a home run to left field.  But, the Marlins recorded three consecutive outs after that to keep the Jackets from building on their score.

Virginia Wesleyan increased its lead to 5-1 in the top of the sixth when Shannon doubled to left field to score Brittney Jackson (Aylett/King William). Jackson entered the game earlier as a pinch runner for Inzana who belted a single.

R-MC added a run in the bottom of the sixth with the help of singles from Christine Simon (Richmond/James River) and Moore, and a Katie Woody (Ashland/Patrick Henry) double.  But, when the Jackets returned to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning, Virginia Wesleyan turned in a 1-2-3 inning, recording the final out on a strike out.

Karagiorgis recorded her 11th complete game of the season en route to improving her pitching record to a career-best 21-4. She struck out seven batters and allowed six hits and two earned runs.  Karagiorgis has recorded 11 straight wins and has improved her season strikeout total to 140.

Inzana topped VWC's nine-hit offense with a 3-for-3 effort, all singles. Shannon added a double and single.

Moore and Woody connected for two hits each for Randolph-Macon. Kesley McLaughlin (Richmond/Douglas Freeman) pitched for the Jackets and dropped to 16-7 on the season.  She walked two batters and gave up nine hits and five earned runs.

2014 ODAC All-Tournament Team
MOP: Tori Higginbotham, VWC
P: Kristina Karagiorgis, VWC
C: Taylor Galvin, VWC
1B: Katie Woody, RMC
2B: Cynthia Hayes, GC
3B: Kayla Dost, VWC
SS: Sharese Jarvis, RMC
OF: Jessi Hall, LC
OF: Marty Wilcox, GC
OF: Christine Simon, RMC
DP: Amber Ingram, LC

--- This release is courtesy of the Virginia Wesleyan College sports information department. ---
www.vwcathletics.com