Virginia Sweeps Doubleheader with Longwood, 5-3 and 8-7

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March 14, 2013

Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—The Virginia softball team defeated Longwood, 5-3, in game one before winning the second game, 8-7, in nine innings Thursday (March 14) at The Park in Charlottesville. With the sweep, UVa moved to 11-12, while Longwood is now 16-7 on the season.

In the bottom of the sixth down 3-0 of the first game, senior Taylor Williams (Woodbridge, Va.) and sophomore Heidi Velk (Marietta, Calif.) singled before junior Marcy Bowdren (Fairfax Station, Va.) tripled to cut the Longwood lead to 3-2.

After a walk, senior Alex Skinkis (La Palma, Calif.) hit a double to right center field that scored Bowdren and tied the ballgame. Classmate Lauren Didlake (Bowling Green, Va.) hit a bloop single to shallow right that scored freshman Taylor Sarcone (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Skinkis and gave the Cavaliers a 5-3 lead.

Senior pitcher Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) pitched her 102nd career complete game, tying her with Lisa Palmer for the most in Virginia history. Mitchell allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits with 11 strikeouts in seven innings.

Longwood’s Brooke Short (10-3) allowed five runs in six innings of work in the loss.

In the second game, Longwood scored two unearned runs before UVa struck for four in the bottom of the third. Bowdren doubled off the wall in center to score freshman Shannon McGinley (Prairie Valley, Kan.) and Velk, while sophomore Megan Harris followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Bowdren.

The Lancers scored a run in the top of the fifth and manufactured a run in the top of the seventh to extend the game at 4-4. Longwood’s Emily Murphy, who started at second base due to international tiebreaker rules, came home in the top of the eighth on an UVa error.

In the bottom of the eighth, Williams started at second due to the tiebreaker rules and moved to third on a wild pitch. Bowdren stepped up and drove her home with a single up the middle to tie the game, 5-5.

In the ninth, Longwood took the lead, 6-5, when Jamie Barbour moved to third on a sacrifice and beat the throw home on a grounder by Kori Nishitomi. Nishitomi made it 7-5 on a RBI double by Brooke Short.

The Cavaliers started the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles from Johnson and Skinkis, which scored Harris. Up stepped senior Kristen Hawkins (Elizabeth, Pa.), who doubled off the wall in left to score pinch runner Sarcone and Skinkis and win the game for UVa.

Freshman Aimee Chapdelaine (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) pitched three innings, allowing four hits and two unearned runs before Mitchell (9-7) struck out eight with five runs (three earned) in six innings of relief to earn her second win of the day.

Longwood’s Libby Morris (6-3) allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits in nine innings, but took the loss.

The Cavaliers return to action Wednesday (March 20) for a single game against George Washington at 6 p.m.