Virginia Softball Splits Pair Of Games With Jacksonville
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March 4, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Virginia softball team split its final two games of the Crispers/JU Invitational against host Jacksonville University Sunday (March 4) at the Ashley Sports Complex. UVa fell in the first game 10-2 in five innings, but rebounded with an 8-4 victory in the final game of the tournament. The Cavaliers finished a tough weekend with a 1-5 mark and now stand at 8-14 on the season.
The Cavaliers fell 10-2 in six inning to Jacksonville (4-17) in the first matchup of the day between the two teams. UVa was plagued by six errors that allowed six unearned runs to score. Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when first-year third baseman Abby Snyder (Cantonment, Fla.) drew a walk with one out and came around to score on first-year first baseman Kelly Haller’s (Leesburg, Va.) double to right center. The Dolphins answered with two runs in the bottom of the opening frame. Jacksonville first two hitters drew walks and Ashley Mora tied the contest at 1-1 with a RBI single up the middle. A fielding error on Alexis Novak’s single up the middle allowed the second run of the inning score. JU increased its lead to 4-1 with a pair of runs in the second. Patricia Melo knocked in the first run of the inning with a triple down the right field line and Mora added a run-scoring double to right center.
UVa got a run back in the third to make the score 4-2. Fourth-year shortstop Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz.) led off the inning with a single to second base and then Snyder notched her second walk of the game. Haller registered her second hit of the contest with a single through the right side of the infield to score Crockett. The Dolphins answered with a run in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 5-2 as they took advantage of a pair of UVa throwing errors to score an unearned run. Renee LaCroix drove in the run in the third with a single up the middle. Jacksonville scored four unearned runs on three Cavalier errors in the fifth to increase its lead to 9-2. The eight-run rule was invoked in the fifth when Shannon Jensen singled home the Dolphins’ 10th run of the game.
First-year Nicole Koren (Warminster, Pa.) suffered the loss in the circle to fall to 0-3 on the season. She walked the only two batters she faced and allowed two runs (one earned). Second-year Karla Wilburn (Del Mar, Calif.) went 1.1 innings in relief and gave up three runs on two hits with a strikeout and a walk. Third-year Whitney Holstun (Escondido, Calif.) entered the game in the second frame and went two-thirds of an inning and allowed one unearned run on two hits. Fourth-year Coty Tolar (Marietta, Ga.) threw the final two innings and gave up five runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits. Tolar walked three and struck out one batter. Katie Buell went the distance for Jacksonville to improve to 2-5 in the circle. She allowed two runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout.
In the second game, the Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Koren led off with a walk and first-year right fielder Sarah Tacke (Merced, Calif.) followed with a home run down the right field line. It was Tacke’s first career homer. Jacksonville answered with three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-2 lead. Valerie Alter drew a walk to lead off the inning and moved to second on a fielder’s choice with Mora reaching first on the play. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Alter scored on Shannon Jensen’s sacrifice fly. A Cavalier fielding error and a single by LaCroix loaded the bases. Simone Bruemmer brought home the second run of the inning with a ground out to second base. Jillian Mirante’s RBI single through the left side gave the Dolphins a 3-2 lead.
The Cavaliers came back with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to go on top 8-3. In the fifth inning, Crockett got things started with a one-out single down the right field line and after a wild pitch Snyder drew a walk. Both runners advanced on another wild pitch and Haller plated Crockett with a single to second base. Fourth-year designated player Amy McKean (Kent, Wash.) drew a walk to load the bases and Koren was hit by a pitch to force in the second run of the inning. Third-year Casey Steffan (Long Valley, M.J.), who was pinch running for Haller, scored on Tacke’s sacrifice fly to right field. IT was Tacke’s third RBI of the game. In the sixth inning, third-year second baseman Lindsay Preuss (La Plata, Md.) and fourth-year catcher Michelle Salmiery (San Jose, Calif.) were hit by pitches. Fourth-year center fielder Meghan O’Leary (Baton Rouge, La.) loaded the bases with a single up the middle. Crockett followed with a two-run single up the middle. O’Leary and Crockett then pulled off a double steal with the throw from the catcher sailing into center field, which allowed O’Leary to cross the plate.
Jacksonville got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on Mora’s double to left center to make the score 8-4. The Dolphins loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but Tolar was able to end the threat and the game with a pop up to second base.
Wilburn picked up the victory with 2.2 innings of relief work to improve to 6-7 on the season. She gave up one run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Koren started in the circle for UVa and gave up three runs (one earned) on two hits with two walks in 2.1 innings of work. Tolar closed out the contest by pitching the final two innings. She allowed only one hit with one walk and a strikeout. Jensen (1-7) was the losing pitcher. In 4.1 innings of work, Jensen gave up five runs on five hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. In two-thirds of an inning, Buell allowed three runs on two hits.
Crockett and Haller both had three hits in the two games against Jacksonville. Haller drove in three runs while Crockett had two RBI and scored twice.
Virginia returns to action on Tuesday (March 6) when it travels to East Carolina for a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.