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April 9, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Fourth-year Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla.) and third-year Coty Tolar (Marietta, Ga.) combined for a shutout in the Virginia softball team’s 1-0 win over Florida State in the opener of a doubleheader Sunday (Apr. 9) at The Park, but the Seminoles came back to take the nightcap 8-5 to earn a split. UVa now stands at 20-17 overall and 3-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Florida State is 30-19 overall and 6-5 in the ACC.
In the first game, the Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the bottom of the first and it proved to be the lone run of the game. Third-year second baseman Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz.) singled to left field to lead off the home half of the first inning. She moved second on fourth-year center fielder Jessica Taylor’s (Philadelphia, Pa.) sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Crockett stole third base and the throw to third was to the second base side of the bag and tipped off the third baseman’s glove for a throwing error, allowing Crockett to score.
Horn (8-6) pitched the first 5.1 innings and held the Seminoles to three hits. She struck out five and walked one. Tolar went the final 1.2 innings to register her school record tying third save of the year. She came in with a runner on third with one out in the sixth and struck out the next two batters to preserve the shutout. Tolar allowed one hit and struck out two. Tiffany McDonald (19-11) was the hard-luck loser, allowing just the one hit to Crockett and one unearned run while striking out nine.
In the second game, Florida State took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Natasha Jacob and Whitney Buckmon had back-to-back base hits to begin the game. Both runners scored on Melissa Wood’s two-out single up the middle. The Cavaliers cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the first. For the second time of the afternoon, Crockett led off with a single. She moved to second on Taylor’s groundout. With two outs, Horn reached on an infield single to third base with Crockett moving to third. Crockett and Horn then worked a double steal to perfection with Crockett crossing the plate with UVa’s first run.
In the fourth inning, second-year first baseman Whitney Holstun (Escondido, Calif.) gave Virginia its first lead of the game by slamming a two-run homer to right center to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 edge. Second-year designated player Lindsey Preuss (La Plata, Md.) also scored on Holstun’s homer after reaching on a three-base error when her fly ball was dropped by FSU’s right fielder. The Seminoles came back to tie the game at 3-3 in the fifth on Veronica Wootson’s two-out bases loaded single that plated Carlie Brieskie. Florida State erupted for five runs on three home runs in the sixth. Wood led off the inning with a homer to left center. Michelle Snyder added a two-run shot to left and Yuruby Ailcart closed out the inning with a two-run homer down the left field line to make the score 8-3. UVa scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to make the final score 8-5. Crockett plated UVa’s run in the sixth with a double off FSU’s second baseman’s glove that scored Preuss. Preuss led off the inning with a single to third base. In the seventh, Preuss greeted McDonald, who relieved starter Kayla Collins, with a double to right field to score Horn from second base. Horn had reached on a fielder’s choice. Fourth-year right fielder Jackie Greer (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) drew the Cavaliers’ third walk of the inning to load the bases with one out. McDonald was able to get out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout to register her third save.
Tolar pitched the first four innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits with two strikeouts. Horn (8-7) was saddled with the loss after pitching one inning. She gave up one run on one hit with a walk and a strikeout. Second-year Karla Wilburn (Del Mar. Calif.) went one-third of an inning and allowed two runs on two hits with one strikeout. First-year Madi Gore (Acworth, Ga.) pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. FSU’s Collins registered the win in the circle to improve to 4-2 on the season. In 6.1 innings, she allowed five runs (two earned) on 10 hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. McDonald earned the save with two-thirds on an inning of relief work. She allowed one hit while striking out one and walking one.
Preuss had three hits for UVa, while Crockett and fourth-year shortstop Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif.) both had two hits.
Virginia returns to action Wednesday (Apr. 12) when it hosts James Madison in a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at The Park.