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Virginia Softball Falls To Virginia Tech
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April 27, 2004
SALEM, Va. – Virginia Tech’s Megan Evans hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Hokies to a 6-3 victory over the University of Virginia softball team Tuesday evening (April 27) at Moyer Sports Complex. The loss snapped the Cavaliers’ season-best nine-game winning streak and UVa now stands at 38-24, while Virginia Tech improves to 34-19.
All but two of the nine runs scored in the game came via the long ball as the Hokies hit three home runs and the Virginia had one. Evans hit two of Virginia Tech’s three homers in the game.
Virginia Tech took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Shanel Garofalo hit a two-out solo home run to left center. The Cavaliers came right back to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. Fourth-year first baseman Hannah Owings (Issaquah, Wash./Liberty) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on third-year catcher Jenn Wynn’s (Herndon, Va./Herndon) sacrifice bunt. Owings scored when second-year third baseman Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) ripped a RBI double to center field. The Hokies responded in the bottom half of the inning when Evans smacked a home run to right center on the first pitch of the inning to give Virginia Tech a 2-1 lead.
In the sixth inning, Owings led off with her ninth home run of the season to right center to tie the game at 2-2. The homer was UVa’s 33rd of the season which tied the school record set in 2002. Wynn then doubled to the wall in center field, but was stranded at third.
Fourth-year shortstop Heather Field (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln), second-year designated player Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz./University), and Owings drew three consecutive walks with two outs in the top of the seventh, but UVa could not push across the go-ahead run. Virginia Tech went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Wynn was placed on second to begin the inning in accordance to the international tie-breaker. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Larquier’s RBI single to right field that gave the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Evans hit a grand slam to center field to end the game. Mindi Wylie was placed on second to begin the inning and moved to third on Caitlin Murphy’s fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt when UVa tried unsuccessfully to get Wylie at third. Garofalo then reached on an infield error to load the bases with no outs. After a popup to first base, Evans hit the game-winning home run to make the final score 6-3.
Fourth-year Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) pitched the first 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Second-year Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon) was saddled with the loss in relief. In 2.2 innings, Horn (17-9) allowed four runs (two earned) on two hits with three strikeouts. Virginia Tech’s Katie Maynard (14-11) picked up the complete-game victory. She allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with seven walks and 10 strikeouts.
Larquier had two of UVa’s four hits in the contest for her 21st multiple-hit game of the season. She also drove in a pair of runs for her 12th multiple-RBI game of the season. Field drew three walks to increase her school record single season total to 62. She now has an ACC record 151 career walks.
Virginia now has a two-week layoff before beginning competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship which will be held May 14-16 in Tallahassee, Fla.