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May 11, 2002
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Virginia softball team lost to North Carolina 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Saturday (May 11) at the Seminole Softball Complex and was eliminated from the tournament. The Tar Heels also handed UVa a 6-0 loss during the first day of the tournament Friday. With the loss, the Cavaliers finish the ACC Championship with a 1-2 record and stand at 45-22 on the season. UVa’s triumph in the tourney was a 4-1 win over Maryland in the first game Saturday. North Carolina improves to 33-29 on the year and plays 21st-ranked Florida State Saturday evening for the right to advance to Sunday’s championship game against Georgia Tech.
The Tar Heel combination of Brandi Griffin and Shannon Walsh limited Virginia to one run on three hits in the game. Griffin (4-2) started the game and picked up the win with four innings of one-hit ball. She walked four and struck out two. Walsh earned her first save of the season with three innings of relief. She gave up one run on two hits and struck out six while issuing two walks.
Virginia second-year Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) was the tough-luck loser. Barstad (8-3) gave up two runs on seven hits and walked two while striking out one Tar Heel.
North Carolina jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Natalie Anter led off the second frame with a home run to left center field. Kelly Ramsey then doubled to the gap in left center and scored on Walsh’s single up the middle.
Virginia got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, fifth-year center fielder Kelly McCabe (Maple Glen, Pa./Upper Dublin) singled to right field to begin the rally. Third-year left fielder Johanna Kaiser (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) then walked and UVa loaded the bases when third-year third baseman Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) was hit by a pitch. Fourth-year All-American Kristen Dennis (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) drew a bases loaded walk to force in McCabe with what proved to be the Cavaliers’ lone run of the game.
McCabe had a pair of hits for Virginia, while Kaiser had the team’s third hit of the game, a double. Kaiser’s double was the team’s 88th of the season which breaks the 2001 club’s school record. Kristen Dennis walked three times in the game to increase her school single season and career records to 54 and 144, respectively. Among her 54 walks in 2002 are 11 intentional free passes. With her RBI in the game, Dennis pushed her UVa single season record to 58 and her career mark to 158.
Kelly Ramsey and Walsh both had a pair of hits for North Carolina.