Seventh-Inning Homers Help Softball in Split at Elon

Feb. 19, 2017

Game 1 Box Score | PDF | Game 2 Box Score | PDF

ELON, N.C. — Sophomore Olivia Gott (Weston, Fla.) hit two home runs, including the go-ahead round-tripper in the top of the seventh, in a 7-5 game two victory over Elon (6-2). Virginia (5-6) salvaged the doubleheader split after dropping the first game, 6-4.

Not to be overshadowed in the thrilling comeback win was Iyana Hughes ‘ (Manteca, Calif.) game-tying homer in the top of the seventh inning. The opposite field blast was also her second of the game as she finished 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBIs. As a team, the Cavaliers hit five home runs in game two, tying a single-game, school record originally set on April 24, 2010 at Boston College.

Junior Allison Davis (Oak Hill, Va.) also had a career day at the plate, hitting safely in her first six at bats. From the lead-off position, she went 4-for-4 with two runs scored in game one and recorded two hits in her first two at bats of the second game as part of 6-for-8 afternoon. She hit her fourth home run of the year in the nightcap and leads the team with a .478 batting average.

Elon scored six runs, all with two outs, in a comeback victory of its own in the first game. After falling behind 4-3 in the fifth, the Phoenix scored three unanswered including two in the bottom of the sixth.

Game one starting pitcher Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) tied a career-high with eight strikeouts in the loss. She came on in relief in the second game and pitched the final three innings to earn her third win of the spring.

Virginia’s 16-game stint away from Charlottesville will conclude next weekend with five games at the East Carolina Pirate Invitational. The Cavaliers will square off against Seton Hall, East Carolina and Coppin State in the three-day tournament.

Game 1

Back-to-back, two-out hits by Elon’s Alaina Hall and Kristin Hoover in the bottom of the second inning gave the Phoenix a 3-0 lead. The two hits were the only two blips on Osherow’s radar over the first three innings. The right-hander fanned six batters in Elon’s first three trips to the plate.

Senior McKall Miller (Ashburn, Va.) got the Cavaliers on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the top of the 3rd that scored Davis. The RBI was Miller’s eighth on the year.

Virginia captured its only lead of the game in the top of the fifth with a three-run rally of its own. Senior Katie Park (Scottsdale, Ariz.) belted a line-drive, two-run home run over the left field wall to tie the game at three. The homer was the second of the season for Park. Two batters later Hughes gave the Cavaliers the lead with her fourth career triple, scoring Gott.

Elon answered in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out RBI single by Carey Million. The Phoenix took the lead for good in the bottom of sixth on a Hoover single through the left side. The Elon right fielder finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Game 2

The game was tied twice, first in the bottom of the first at 1-1 and then again in the top of the fifth at 3-3, before Elon took control in its half of the fifth. With one out, Ashtyn Foddrell singled home a pair of runs giving the Phoenix a 5-3 lead.

The Cavaliers pulled within a run in the top of the sixth on the first Gott home run. That set the stage for the game-winning rally in the seventh. With two outs, Hughes cracked her second home run of the game and tied it at five. After a Park single kept the inning alive, Gott drove a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield wall to give the Cavaliers the lead.

The Phoenix did not go away quietly and loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh. With the winning run on first base, Osherow induced a game-ending line out to left field.

Eight different Virginia hitters registered a hit in the contest and the 13 total hits were a season-high. Madison Labshere (El Cajon, Calif.) singled in the second inning and has now reached base safely in all 11 games this season.