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Virginia Softball Splits Twinbill With Villanova
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April 13, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team saw its 31-game home winning streak end with a 3-0 loss to Villanova in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday (April 13) at The Park. The Cavaliers won the first game of the twinbill 7-3 and now stand at 38-15 on the season. The Wildcats are now 29-7.
UVa was a perfect 18-0 at home during the 2001 season and won the first game of the doubleheader against Villanova for its 13th consecutive home win of the 2002 season. The Cavaliers’ setback in the second game was the first time they lost at home since falling to then 17th-ranked Florida State on May 3, 2000.
Virginia won the first game 7-3 despite being outhit 15-11. The Cavaliers scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning to break the game open. UVa loaded the bases in the top of the first with singles by second-year shortstop Heather Field (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln) and fifth-year center fielder Kelly McCabe (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) and a Villanova error. Fourth-year All-American Kristen Dennis (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) then walked to force in the first run of the game. A sacrifice fly by second-year first baseman Hannah Owings (Issaquah, Wash./Liberty) scored McCabe pushed the UVa lead to 2-0. After third-year third baseman Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) scored on a wild pitch, second-year pitcher Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) and first-year right fielder M.K. White (Vienna, Va./James Madison) delivered the fourth and fifth runs of the inning with singles. White made the score 6-0 when she scored on Rojas’ single in the fourth inning.
Villanova scored twice in the top of the fifth on Ricci Lugo’s RBI triple and a run-scoring single by Lisa Krueger to make the score 6-2. The Wildcats added a third run in the sixth inning on Sarah Walls’ base hit. UVa made the final score 7-3 on Owings’ RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
Barstad picked up the victory for the Cavaliers as she improved to 7-2 on the season. She allowed three runs on 15 hits and struck out one batter in a complete-game effort. Villanova’s Theresa Hornick (13-5) took the loss. In two-thirds of an inning, she gave up five runs (two earned) on five hits. Kristen Haynes relieved Hornick and gave up two runs on eight hits while striking out six in five innings of work.
UVa’s White, Barstad and Field each had two hits in the game, while Owings drove in a pair of runs.
In the second game, Villanova scored all three runs in the top of the first inning. Lugo led off the game with a home run to center field and Allison Wisniewski added a two-run single to account for Villanova’s three runs in the nightcap.
After lasting only two-thirds of an inning in the first game, Hornick came back to throw a two-hit, complete-game shutout. She struck out seven batters while walking one. Virginia fourth-year Erin Allinder (Norco, Calif./Norco) took the loss. She allowed five hits and the three first inning runs in falling to 5-3 on the season. She struck out seven and walked two. Rojas and White had the Cavaliers’ two hits in the second game.
UVa returns to action Sunday (April 14) when it hosts ACC rival North Carolina in a conference doubleheader at The Park. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.