VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WTKR)- It's hard to put together a long winning streak in softball, let alone an undefeated regular season but Virginia Wesleyan has engineered a dominant campaign so far.
The Marlins enter the ODAC Tournament 40-0 and have looked nearly unstoppable. They've only trailed one inning throughout the entire season and became the first conference team to post a 40-0 regular season.
VWU has won three national titles since 2017, most recently in 2021, and is always in the championship conversation, but this level of domination is stepping it up, even for the Marlins.
"They know that they're good, but it's a humility about it," noted head coach Brandon Elliott, who captured career win No. 700 earlier this month. "It's not a false humility, but it's not an arrogance or a cockiness. It's like 'hey, we know that we're really good and it doesn't depend on just me.' I think that's been the key."
"It really helps with the nerves of it all," added sophomore first baseman Morgan Tucker on the team's postseason experience. "It's a big stage and Coach Elliott tell us all the time that you can't play in a more high-pressure situation than you already have so it really helps that we have a veteran group whose been there before and seen that."
Last year's Wesleyan squad came close, advancing to the national championship finals before falling to Trine. The Marlins finished with a 49-6-1 record and almost all of the players from that team make up this season's roster. Now they enter the postseason ranked No. 1 in the country and are looking to carry the stellar play into the games that matter the most.
Virginia Wesleyan will be the top seed in the ODAC Tournament, which begins this Friday when the Marlins take on Guilford. The entire group knows they'll get the best of every opponent from here on out, but they don't shy away from being the hunted.
"I think you've got to embrace the target," Elliott said. "That's why they came here, that's why they want to play at Virginia Wesleyan. You'd rather be the dog than have to chase the dog and they know that everybody's coming after them. Pressure is a privilege and I think that's what motivates them a little bit."
"We take a lot of pride in it and we know that it's a respect thing," noted Tucker. "We come out here and give everybody our best game, too. We just come in here and take care of business, no matter who it is, and we play our game every day."
To see the exceptional level at which Elliott's team is playing, one need look no further than the numbers. Beyond the record, the Marlins lead the nation in batting average (.404) and ERA (0.49). VWU's 339 total runs are well ahead of the rest of the field and they've connected on more hits than any other squad in Division III.
Virginia Wesleyan's opening ODAC Tournament match-up against Guilford is set for 5 p.m. Friday in Salem.
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