Virginia Splits with No. 9 Florida State After Bowdren's Walk-Off Home Run in First Game
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March 8, 2014
Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.–The Virginia softball team came from six runs down in the sixth inning to defeat No. 9 Florida State, 11-9, on a walk-off home run by senior Marcy Bowdren in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday (March 8) at The Park. The Seminoles (19-3, 1-1 ACC) won the second game, 8-0, in five innings.
The first game was the Cavaliers’ first win over a top-10 team since March 21, 2010, when UVa defeated then-No. 2 Arizona, 2-1.
In the bottom of the sixth of the first game, Virginia (3-15, 1-4 ACC) batters reached in seven of its first eight at-bats and scored a run on five consecutive plays. Freshman Katie Park (Scottsdale, Ariz.) doubled down the left field line to score junior Heidi Velk (Murrieta, Calif.) and senior Stephanie Harris (Knoxville, Tenn.) to give the Cavaliers the lead for the first time at 9-8.
After the Seminoles manufactured a run in the top of the seventh, junior Megan Harris (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled and stole second with two outs before Bowdren hit her third home of the season to right-center field.
“My whole mentality is to put the ball in play, whether it is a hit or not,” Bowdren said. “One hit did not make the comeback though. It was a complete team effort to score nine runs in the last two innings. It was an awesome feeling to come back and win that game.”
Sophomore pitcher Aimee Chapdelaine (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) settled down after giving up six runs in the first two innings, striking out three in the complete-game win.
Lacey Waldrop allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings of work for Florida State, while Jessica Nori (0-1) took the loss, giving up nine runs (five earned) in 1.2 innings of relief.
In the second game, the Seminoles scored six runs off of Chapdelaine (3-13) in the fourth inning and two in fifth off of Mayer to win 8-0. Mayer earned the Cavaliers’ only hit in the fifth inning, a double to center.
Jessica Burroughs (9-0) pitched the shutout for Florida State, striking out seven in five innings of work.
The two teams finish the three-game series Sunday (March 9) with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.