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Virginia Hangs on to Beat Drexel, 4-3
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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Virginia softball team (2-1) hung on to beat Drexel 4-3 Saturday in Campbell’s Hampton Inn Tournament. Junior Giannina Cipolloni, freshman Stephanie Harris and sophomore Alex Skinkis each recorded two hits apiece in the winning effort.
Junior pitcher Stephanie Coates earned her first victory of the season, throwing the first four innings and allowing three runs on eight hits. She also tallied two strikeouts. Teammate Melanie Mitchell came on to throw the final three innings and earned the save. She did not allow a hit while striking out five.
For the game, the Cavaliers outhit Drexel 9-8.
Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Cipolloni led off with an infield single and stole second. She moved to third on teammate Marcy Bowdren’s flyout to center and scored on a Harris RBI single up the middle.
After Drexel tied the game on a Hillary Allen solo home run in the second, the Dragons took a 2-1 lead after Hannah Parrish singled and scored in the third.
But the Cavaliers came back and compiled three runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning. Bowdren led off with a double to left center. Harris then singled through the left side to put runners on the corners. The next batter, Alexa Martinez, singled through the right side to score Bowdren. With one out, Skinkis singled up the middle to bring in Harris. Junior Kristen Hawkins brought in the third run after a one-out groundout to short, which scored Martinez. The Cavaliers took a 4-2 advantage.
Drexel cut the lead to 4-3 after another solo home run, this time by Paige Collins. After the next batter, Allen, singled up the middle, Mitchell came on to pitch and shut down the Dragons for the next three innings.
Allen took the loss for Drexel in the circle. She threw six innings and tallied one walk and one strikeout.
Virginia awaits its seeding to determine opponent and time for the final game of the tournament. The Cavaliers will either play at 4 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.