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May 14, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Virginia softball team gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning and fell to Virginia Tech 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship late Saturday evening (May 14), which is being held at the Terrapin Softball Complex. With the loss, UVa was eliminated from the tournament, while the Hokies advance to Sunday’s championship game against Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers end their season with a 31-32 record, while Virginia Tech improves to 43-22.
Virginia Tech pulled out the victory with an unearned run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Kathleen Jones led off the seventh with a single to center field and advanced to second on Caroline Stolle’s sacrifice bunt. After a popup, Kelly Brown hit a grounder to third and reached on a throwing error that allowed Jones to score from second base with the game-winning run.
The Cavaliers had a chance to get on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning and break a scoreless tie. Second-year second baseman Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz./University) led off the inning with a single up the middle, which extended her hitting streak to 11 games. With one out, fourth-year catcher Jenn Wynn (Herndon, Va./Herndon) recorded her second hit of the game with a sharp single through the left side of the infield to move Crockett to third. Virginia Tech’s Angela Tincher got the next to batters on strikeouts to end the threat.
Virginia broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Crockett singled up the middle for the second time in the game. She moved to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on third-year third baseman Sara Larquier’s (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) groundout. After an intentional walk to Wynn, first-year shortstop Lindsey Preuss (La Plata, Md./La Plata) bunted for a base hit that brought Crockett home with the first run of the game. Preuss bunted to the first baseman and outraced the first and second basemen to first.
The Hokies came right back in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Brown led off the inning with a double to left center and moved to third on Caitlin Murphy’s sacrifice bunt. Alisia Narodowski plated Brown with a triple down the right field line to knot the game at 1-1.
Third-year Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla./Leon) pitched well in defeat. In the complete-game effort, Horn (14-9), gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Horn held Virginia Tech hitless for the first 4.1 innings before Jones hit a bloop single to shallow left center. Tincher set the ACC Tournament record with 16 strikeouts in a seven-inning game. Tincher (21-7), allowed one run on five hits and walked one batter.
The game, which was scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m., did not begin until 10:00 p.m. due to thunderstorms in the College Park, Md., area and did not finish until midnight.