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Virginia Softball Wins Hoo's Who Tournament
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March 24, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team swept a doubleheader from Penn Sate 4-2 and 5-2 Sunday (March 24) at The Park to win the three-day 2002 Hoo’s Who Tournament. The Cavaliers (29-10) won the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record and extended their home winning streak to 28 games. The Nittany Lions (12-13) were second in the tournament with a 4-2 mark. In the first doubleheader of the day, Drexel and Wright State split a pair of games with the Dragons winning the first game 6-2 and Wright State taking the nightcap 2-1 in nine innings. Drexel (3-18) and Wright State (5-13) were both 1-5 in the tournament, but Drexel won the tiebreaker to finish third and Wright State was fourth.
In the first game, fourth-year All-American Kristen Dennis (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) turned in another excellent pitching performance in leading UVa to a 4-2 victory. Dennis (14-4) allowed two runs on five hits and struck out six without walking a batter. The Cavaliers scored a run in each of the first three innings, while Penn State scored single runs in the second and third. UVa grabbed a 1-0 lead when first-year right fielder Valerie Sevilla (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) reached base on a two-base error by the left fielder. She scored when third-year third baseman Ruby Rojas’ (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) grounder to third was misplayed. Sevilla drove in UVa’s second run of the game with a suicide squeeze bunt that brought home first-year designated player M.K. White (Vienna, Va./James Madison). The Nittany Lions cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the second. In the third, Dennis helped her own cause with a RBI double that scored Rojas. Penn State’s Jennifer Tripken cut the Virginia lead to 3-2 with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. UVa added an insurance run in the sixth inning as Rojas doubled to right field with two outs and scored on second-year shortstop Heather Field’s (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln) single. Penn State’s Marisa Hanson (6-5) took the loss as she gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits in five innings of work. Rojas was the only player with two hits in the game and she also scored a pair of runs.
The Cavaliers earned the tournament title with a 5-2 victory in the nightcap. After staking Penn State to a 1-0 lead on Megan Humphrey’s solo home run in the second inning, Virginia took the lead for good with three two-out runs in the bottom of the third. Rojas got things started with a double to left center and then Dennis walked. Field hit a two-run triple down the right field line to score Rojas and Dennis. Second-year catcher Stephanie Calhoun (Spring Valley, Calif./Mount Miguel) brought Field home with a double to right field. UVa extended its lead to 5-1 with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Third-year second baseman Jill Bumler (Montclair, Va./Bishop O’Connell) reached on an error and then scored on another Penn State error. With two outs, Rojas drove in Sevilla with a single to make the score 5-1. The Nittany Lions made it 5-2 with a run in the sixth as Tripken led off the inning with a triple and scored on Erin Norton’s single.
UVa fourth-year Erin Allinder (Norco, Calif./Norco) picked up the win in the second game to improve to 4-2 on the season. She allowed two runs on nine hits and struck out a pair of batters. Shana Riggleman (2-1) took the loss. In 3.2 innings, she allowed five runs (three earned) on five hits, but walked four batters while striking out one. Rojas was three for three in the second game with one run and one RBI.
In the first doubleheader of the day, Drexel and Wright State split with Drexel winning the first game 6-2 and the Raiders taking the nightcap 2-1 in nine innings. In the first game, the Dragons scored five runs in the first inning and held on for the 6-2 victory. Drexel’s Laura Tynio earned the victory as she allowed two runs on seven hits. Rachel Levinson, Michele Rzepka and Jonnae McClain each drove in two runs. Nikki Scott (1-7) took the loss for Wright Sate as she allowed six runs on seven hits.In the Raiders’ 2-1 win in game two, Sandra Breiby hit a sacrifice fly that scored pinch runner Nikki Scott from third with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Kristin Bultinck (3-6) allowed just one run on six hits with nine strikeouts in a nine-inning complete-game effort. After winning game one, Tynio (3-7) also went the distance in the second game was saddled with the loss. She pitched 8.2 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits.
UVa returns to action on Friday (March 29) when it travels to Atlanta, Georgia for a 6:00 p.m. doubleheader against Georgia State. The Cavaliers then begin ACC play with a 12 noon doubleheader at Georgia Tech on March 30.