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Virginia Softball Drops 4-1 Decision To Georgia Tech
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May 15, 2004
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Fourth-seeded Georgia Tech used a strong pitching performance from Jessica Sallinger to register a 4-1 victory over the third-seeded Virginia softball team and eliminate the Cavaliers from the ACC Championship Saturday (May 15) at the Seminole Softball Complex. With the loss, UVa falls to 38-26 on the season, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 43-16.
After two scoreless innings, the Yellow Jackets took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Kristin Hull led off the inning with a walk and moved to second base on Kirin Kumar’s sacrifice bunt. After a walk to Soraya Reddick, Katie Donovan hit a RBI single through the left side of the infield to score Hull. Tara Knudsen followed with a single off UVa second-year pitcher Erin Horn’s (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon) leg that scored Reddick from third.
Georgia Tech increased its lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning. Amy Hosier led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on Tasha Waugh’s double to left field. Hosier then scored on Hull’s fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop when the throw to the plate was high. In the sixth inning, Sara Wissmann increased Georgia Tech’s lead to 4-0 with a two-out solo home run to left center.
Second-year right fielder Jackie Greer (Portage, Mich./Portage) broke up Jessica Sallinger’s bid for a no-hitter with a double to left center to lead off the fifth inning. The Cavaliers’ ruined the Yellow Jackets’ shutout bid when second-year second baseman Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) led off the top of the seventh inning with a home run down the left field line. It marked Larquier’s seventh homer of the season and the team’s school record 34th of the year.
Horn took the loss in the circle, falling to 17-10 on the season. She pitched the first four innings and allowed three runs on three hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. Fourth-year Joanna Barstad (Canby, Ore./Canby) pitched the final two innings and allowed one run on one hit.
Sallinger improved to 28-7 with the complete-game victory. She allowed just one run on two hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts.
Fourth-year shortstop Heather Field (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln) played in the 262nd game of her career to establish a new Virginia school record for games played. Meg Young (1998-2001) held the former mark of 261. Field also extended her ACC record for career walks to 153 when she drew her school record 64th walk of the season in as many games.
The Cavaliers now await word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Softball Championship field of 64 is announced Sunday evening (May 16).