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Virginia Softball Closes Out Regular Season At Towson
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May 1, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia softball team closes out the regular season on Tuesday (May 2) with a doubleheader against Towson in Towson, Md. The twinbill will be played at Towson Center Field and is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. The games can be followed on-line via gametracker at virginiasports.com
The Cavaliers enter the doubleheader with a 27-23 record. UVa finished regular season Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 7-13 record. Virginia is coming off a 1-0 win over Boston College Sunday (Apr. 30) in the final contest of a three-game series in Chestnut Hill, Mass. UVa lost 2-0 in eight innings and 5-2 in Saturday’s doubleheader with the Eagles.
Towson is 28-26 overall and stands at 7-11 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Tigers took one of three games from Georgia State last weekend. Towson won 1-0 in Saturday’s nightcap, but fell 5-0 in the first game of the series and 3-1 in the rubber game Sunday.
Virginia leads the all-time series against Towson 8-3. UVa had its seven-game winning streak in the series snapped last season when the Tigers swept a pair of games at The Park in Charlottesville on Apr. 5. Towson overcame a 4-0 deficit to win the opener 5-4 and then took the nightcap 3-2 in 10 innings. Virginia won all three matchups in the 2005 season. UVa won 10-2 (6 innings) in the Cavalier Classic (Mar. 20) and swept a doubleheader at Towson 7-3 and 9-2 (6 innings) on April 6. Towson’s first win in the series was a 4-2 triumph in the 1981 season.
Third-year designated player Amy McKean (Kent, Wash.) leads Virginia with a .337 batting average (30-89). She is also tied with fourth-year shortstop Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif.) for the team lead in home runs with seven. Larquier leads UVa with 26 RBI, while McKean is second with 24. Fourth-year center fielder Jessica Taylor (Philadelphia, Pa.) is hitting .279 (43-154) and has scored 28 runs, while second-year left fielder Lindsey Preuss (La Plata, Md.) is hitting .275 (33-120) with a team-best 10 doubles. Fourth-year Erin Horn (Tallahassee, Fla.) leads the Cavaliers in the circle. She is 11-10 with a UVa single season record four saves and a 1.91 ERA. Horn has struck out 172 batters in 121 innings and is averaging 9.95 strikeouts per seven innings, which ranks among the Division I leaders.
After Tuesday’s doubleheader, the Cavaliers return to action in the ACC Tournament, which will be held May 11-14 in Chapel Hill, N.C.