Virginia Softball Loses Twice To Florida State
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April 21, 2007
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State took advantage of three Cavalier errors to score six unearned runs and record a pair of victories over the Virginia softball team Saturday (April 21) at JoAnne Graf Field. The Seminoles won the first game 8-2 and then took the nightcap 4-2. With the two losses, UVa falls to 15-33 overall and 1-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. FSU improves to 35-19 overall and 10-6 in the ACC.
Florida State scored three unearned runs in the first inning of the opener before going on to an 8-2 victory. A first inning miscue by the Cavaliers in the second frame of the second game led to three more unearned FSU runs and the Seminoles went on to a 4-2 win.
In game one, the Seminoles scored three unearned runs in the first inning with the aid of just one hit. Veronica Wootson reached on an error to lead off the home half of the first inning and stole second base. Monica Montez was hit by a pitch and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Carly Wynn. A squeeze bunt by Yuruby Alicart brought Wootson home with the first run of the game. FSU went up 2-0 when Montez scored after a groundout when UVa tried to get Alicart out as she headed for third with Montez still at third. Alicart then scored on Jessica Gilmore’s single to left field to make the score 3-0.
Florida State added three more runs in the third to take a 6-0 lead. Montez led off with a triple and scored on Wynn’s single to right. Wynn then scored on Alicart’s double to left and Alicart made it 6-0 when she scored on a fielder’s choice after a single by Robin Ahrberg.
The Cavaliers scored a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to close within 6-2. First-year third baseman Abby Snyder (Cantonment, Fla.) got things started with a double to left field. With one out, fourth-year second baseman Elea Crockett (Tucson, Ariz.) reached on a bunt single, moving Snyder to third base. Snyder scored on first-year first baseman Kelly Haller’s (Leesburg, Va.) single up the middle with Crockett taking third base. Crockett then scored on first-year right fielder Sarah Tacke’s (Merced, Calif.) RBI ground out to first base. Florida State got the two runs back in the bottom half of the sixth. Wootson led off with a triple and scored on Whitney Buckmon’s ground out. Ahrberg drove in Alicart with the Seminole’s eighth run of the game with a double. Alicart had reached on a single up the middle.
Third-year Whitney Holstun (Escondido, Calif.) took the loss in the circle for UVa and fell to 4-4 on the season. Holstun allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits with a pair of strikeouts in two-plus innings of work. Second-year Karla Wilburn (Del Mar, Calif.) pitched the final four innings and allowed two runs on seven hits. Wilburn struck out three batters and walked one. Tiffany McDonald went the distance in the circle for Florida State to pick up the victory. McDonald (13-11) was charged with two runs on six hits. She struck out seven and walked one Cavalier.
In the second game, Florida State again took a quick lead in the second inning as it scored a single run in the bottom of the first. Wootson led off with a bunt single and stole second base before scoring on Montez’s single up the middle. The Seminoles added three unearned runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Brittany Osmon reached on an error and eventually scored on a double steal with Whitney Buckmon taking second. Wootson brought Buckmon home with a double to center field and Wootson scored on Montez’s double to right center.
The Cavaliers cut FSU’s lead in half with two runs in the top of the third. Fourth-year designated player Brooke Sorber (Alexandria, Va.) reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on Crockett’s single to left field. Haller was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then Tacke was hit by the very next pitch to force in Sorber with UVa’s first run of the game. Third-year left fielder Lindsey Preuss (La Plata, Md.) drove in Crockett with UVa’s second run with a ground out to second base.
Holstun started in the circle for the Cavaliers and took the loss to fall to 4-5 on the season. She went 1.2 innings while allowing four runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits and struck out one batter. Fourth-year Coty Tolar (Marietta, Ga.) relieved Holstun in the second inning and went the final 4.1 innings and kept Florida State off the scoreboard the remainder of the game. Tolar held FSU to three hits while striking out two and walking one. Melissa May picked up the win for the Seminoles to improve to 11-4 on the season. In five innings, May gave up two runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. McDonald pitched the final two innings to register her second save of the season. McDonald allowed only one hit and struck out three batters.
Haller and Crockett both had three hits in the doubleheader. Haller went 2-3 with a RBI in the first game, while Crockett was 2-4 with a run scored in the second contest. Tacke had a RBI in both contests.
Virginia wraps up its series with Florida State with a single game at noon on Sunday (April 22) at JoAnne Graf Field.