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Virginia Softball Team Opens Season With Three Victories
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Feb. 15, 2003
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Virginia softball team opened its 2003 season with a pair of victories Friday (February 14) and one win Saturday (February 15) at the rain-shortened Triangle Classic at Walnut Creek Park. The Cavaliers defeated UNC Wilmington 10-4 in the first game of the season Friday, then recorded a 13-4 victory over Campbell in their second game of the day. UVa improved to 3-0 on the season with a 10-9 victory over Boston University Saturday. The Cavaliers’ game against Virginia Tech, scheduled for 11:00 a.m. was cancelled, as was the remainder of the tournament, which was to conclude Sunday.
Against UNC Wilmington, Virginia fell behind 2-0 after four innings, but exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth inning en route to the 10-4 victory. Third-year pitcher Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) picked up the win in the circle by pitching five innings while allowing four runs. First-year pitcher Christina Grimm (Los Osos, Calif./Morro Bay) hurled two scoreless innings to close out the game. Barstad helped her own cause with a pair of hits in three at-bats, while third-year shortstop Heather Field (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln) also had a pair of safeties. Second-year catcher Jenn Wynn (Herndon, Va./Herndon) and first-year right fielder Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) both had one hit and scored two runs.
UVa improved to 2-0 on the season with a 13-4, six-inning victory over Campbell. First-year pitcher Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon) recorded her first collegiate win with five innings of two-hit, two-run ball. Field had two hits, including a two-run homer, and scored four runs in the game, while Wynn was three for four. The Cavaliers scored a single run in the bottom of the first inning and added four more runs in the second to break the contest open.
The Cavaliers came from behind to defeat Boston University 10-9 Saturday. Trailing 7-4 entering the bottom of the six inning, UVa exploded for six runs to take the lead for good. Larquier put the Cavaliers on top for good with a two-out, three-run homer. The Terriers scored twice in the top of the seventh, but could not push the tying run across the plate.
Fourth-year third baseman Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) tied the single game school record with two home runs, including a solo shot to start UVa’s rally in the sixth inning. Field continued her hot hitting with three hits, while fourth-year center fielder Katie Weinberg (Reston, Va./South Lakes) scored three runs and had one hit. Horn registered her second victory of the season in the circle. She allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, in six innings of relief work.
UVa returns to action Friday through Sunday, February 21-23 at the Worth Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Ariz.