Virginia's Sprangel Earns 600th Career Victory

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April 17, 2001

Box Score Game 1 | Box Score Game 2

LYNCHBURG, Va. – University of Virginia head softball coach Cheryl Sprangel earned her 600th career win in the first game of the Cavaliers’ doubleheader sweep over Liberty Tuesday afternoon (April 17) at Liberty Softball Field. UVa won the first game 8-4 for Sprangel’s 600th win and then took the nightcap 6-2. With the two victories, the Cavaliers improve to 41-13 on the season, while the Lady Flames fall to 14-33.

With the two victories, Sprangel improved her career coaching record to 601-460-1 in 18 seasons as a head coach at both Virginia and Toledo. In four seasons at Virginia, Sprangel is 141-105. The Cavaliers also moved within one game of tying the school record for victories in a season. In 1989 UVa won 42 games (42-12).

First-year pitcher Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) earned the victories in both games with complete-game performances. Barstad helped her own cause with four hits, including three in the first game, three runs and a RBI. In the first game, she gave up four runs (only two earned) on nine hits and struck out six batters. Barstad allowed two runs on eight hits in improving her record to 9-1 with the win in the second game.

In addition to Barstad’s three hits in the first game, the Cavaliers had three players contribute two hits apiece. Second-year third baseman Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) was two for four with two RBI, while third-year center fielder Kelly McCabe (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) was two for four with two runs and a RBI. Fourth-year right fielder Meaghan Young (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) was two for three.

Virginia jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Young led off the game with a double and advanced to third on McCabe’s single. Young scored on a Rojas single and McCabe scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by first-year first baseman Hannah Owings (Issaquah, Wash./Liberty). Rojas scored the third run on a single by Barstad. The Lady Flames scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to make the score 3-2, but UVa tallied another run in the fourth before breaking the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.

In the second game, Young, second-year left fielder Johanna Kaiser (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) and second-year center fielder Katie Weinberg (Reston, Va./South Lakes) each had a pair of hits.

UVa took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a RBI double by third-year first baseman Erin Allinder (Norco, Calif./Norco). The Cavaliers extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Weinberg hit a two-run double down the first base line. Virginia added three runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Young, Kaiser and Rojas. Liberty scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to ruin Barstad’s shutout bid.

Virginia returns to action on Wednesday, April 18 when it hosts Elon College in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. at The Park in Charlottesville.