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March 28, 2006

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Virginia softball team received some late game heroics to win the first game of a doubleheader against George Mason 2-1 in eight innings and then used the long ball for a 7-4 six-inning victory in the nightcap Tuesday (Mar. 28) at George Mason Field. With the victories, UVa improves to 17-11 on the season, while the Patriots fall to 1-30.

In the first game, the Cavaliers trailed 1-0 entering the top seventh inning and got a two-out single from fourth-year shortstop Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif.) to score second-year first baseman Whitney Holstun (Escondido, Calif.) from third to tie the game at 1-1. Holstun led off the inning with a base hit. UVa won the game in the eighth when fourth-year left fielder Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla.) hit a two-out infield single over GMU’s pitchers’ head to score third-year right fielder Brooke Sorber (Alexandria, Va.) from third base and give Virginia a 2-1 lead. Sorber led UVa’s offensive onslaught in the second game as she tied the school record with a pair of home runs. Holstun and second-year left fielder Lindsey Preuss (La Plata, Md.) also hit homers to help tie the single game school record with four home runs. UVa also hit four home runs against Radford on April 21, 2005.

George Mason took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. Ali Bryan reached on an error and scored on Kristin Dickel’s two-out double to center field.

Third-year Coty Tolar (Marietta, Ga.) pitched four scoreless innings to pick up the win in game one and improve to 2-1. Tolar limited George Mason to two hits and struck out four. She got out of a first and third, no out jam in the bottom of the eighth, with two strikeouts and a groundout to preserve the win. Second-year Karla Wilburn (Del Mar, Calif.) pitched the first two innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout. First-year Madi Gore (Acworth, Ga.) pitched two perfect innings while striking out three before giving way to Tolar in the fifth. The three UVa pitchers held the Patriots to three hits and did not issue a walk while striking out eight. Arielle Weinkofsky (1-12) pitched the final 1.2 innings and took the loss. She allowed three hits and one unearned run with one strikeout and a walk. Rachel Hastings went the first 6.1 innings and gave up one run on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Virginia’s bats awoke in the second game as it hit four home runs in a 7-4 win. The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead on Holstun’s solo home run down the left field line in the second inning. Sorber connected on the first of her two homers in the third inning with third-year second baseman Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz.) on board. Third-year catcher Michelle Salmiery (San Jose, Calif.) followed with a base hit and Holstun drew a walk before Preuss slammed a three-run homer to left to give UVa 6-0 lead. Reanna Gallegos got the Patriots on the scoreboard with a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third. Kelsey Mack made it 6-3 with a two-run homer to center in the fourth inning. Sorber hit her school-record tying second homer of the game – a solo shot to left – in the fifth to make the score 7-3. George Mason answered with a run in the sixth on Paige Miller’s run-scoring single to bring GMU within 7-4.

Horn pitched the first three innings to pick up the victory in the circle. She allowed one run on one hit with five strikeouts while improving to 6-4. Tolar pitched the final two-thirds on an inning to register her second save of the season. Gore pitched the fourth inning and allowed two runs on two hits. Wilburn went 1.1 innings and gave up one run on three hits before giving way to Tolar. Alison Bryan (0-5) went the distance for George Mason and allowed seven runs on five hits with seven walks and four strikeouts.

Virginia returns to action on Wednesday (Mar. 29) when it hosts Radford in a doubleheader at The Park. The first game is scheduled to begin 1:00 p.m.

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