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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia softball team (7-20, 2-4 ACC) ended the 2008 Cavalier Classic with an 8-3 loss to Ohio Saturday at The Park.
The Bobcats (9-8) outhit UVa 14-5 in the game. Third-year shortstop Carly Winger was 2-for-2 at the plate with two walks and also scored a run. Meghan O’Leary, Kelly Haller and Lindsey Preuss also tallied hits for the Orange and Blue.
Fourth-year Karla Wilburn (4-9) took the loss for Virginia after throwing two innings and allowing four runs, all earned, on seven hits. Whitney Holstun and Allee Rife came on in relief. All three pitchers recorded a strikeout.
The Cavaliers, who were the visiting team on the scoreboard, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. O’Leary walked to lead off the game and moved over to second after a sac bunt by teammate Alison Pittman. O’Leary would move to third on a wild pitch and score on a RBI groundout to short by Haller.
Ohio scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning to lead 2-1, but the Cavaliers put another on the board in the second to tie the game. Back-to-back Bobcat errors put Sarah Tacke and Casey Steffan on second and first, respectively, with no outs. After Tacke took third, Ohio got two quick outs and UVa was in danger of stranding its baserunners. O’Leary came to the plate and whacked a single through the left side to score Tacke.
The Bobcats were able to put up another two runs in the bottom of the second and scored three times in the fourth to lead 7-2.
Virginia scored its third run in the fifth. With one out, Winger tripled to right center, her second three-bagger on the day after hitting the team’s first triple of the season earlier against Rutgers. Winger trotted home when the next batter, Pruess, singled to left center for the RBI.
Once again Ohio responded to Virginia’s scoring effort in the bottom half of the inning, adding a pair of insurance runs.
The Cavaliers will play a doubleheader with Radford beginning at 4 p.m. Monday at The Park. The games were rescheduled after being rained out last Wednesday.