Softball Rallies Late in Game Two, Splits at George Mason

April 5, 2017

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

UVA Top Performers
Game 1: Kaitlin Fitzgerald – 2-for-3, run
Game 2: McKall Miller – 2-for-3, HR (5)
Game 2: Allison Davis – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs
Game 2: Ashlee Davis – 2-for-3, run

FAIRFAX, Va. – Late offense in the nightcap against George Mason (10-22) helped Virginia (14-26) to a 7-2 victory and a split in a midweek doubleheader. The Patriots emerged with a 6-2 win in game one.

After managing just four hits in the opening game, the Cavalier offense peppered a pair of George Mason pitchers for 11 hits in game two. Virginia erased two, one-run deficits for its fifth come-from-behind victory of the season.

The double-dip concluded the week for the Cavaliers who will have the weekend off from Atlantic Coast Conference play. Virginia will wrap-up a 10-game road trip on Tuesday (April 11) when it travels to Liberty for a single game at 6:00 p.m.

Game 1: George Mason – 6, Virginia -2
Five runs from the George Mason offense in the first two innings proved to be the difference in game one. The Patriots sent all nine batters to plate and scored four runs in the opening frame. Three runs came off the bat of Erin Calpin who cleared the bases with her third double of the season.

George Mason pitcher, Marina Vitalich, retired the first six batters she faced before issuing a lead-off walk to Madison Labshere (El Cajon, Calif.) in the top of the third. She didn’t surrender her first hit until the fourth inning when Kaitlin Fitzgerald (Placentia, Calif.) recorded a two-out single. Fitzgerald went on to score from first base on an ensuing hit by McKall Miller (Ashburn, Va.) to make the score 5-1.

Senior Iyana Hughes (Manteca, Calif.) was responsible for driving in the Cavaliers second run with an RBI single that scored Danni Ingraham (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) with two outs in the top of the sixth.

Patriot reliever Taylor Mayer pitched the final three innings, surrendering just an unearned run on two hits. She was credited with her first save of the season.

Game 2: Virginia – 7, George Mason – 2
Sophomore Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) got all the run support she needed in her second complete-game victory in as many days. The right-hander tossed all seven innings, allowed two runs and struck out three in her ninth win of the season.

After trading runs in the first two innings, George Mason re-took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a single by Haley Hinton.

The 2-1 advantage was short-lived as the Cavaliers scored four runs in the top of fifth. Junior Allison Davis (Oak Hill, Va.) tied the game up on an RBI single to right field that scored Lacy Smith (Lancaster, Pa.). The next batter, Hughes, gave Virginia the lead for good with an RBI single through the right side. Ingraham capped the four-run frame with her 16^th RBI of the season to make the score 5-2.

Davis and Katie Park (Scottsdale, Ariz.) added insurance runs with RBI hits in the top of the sixth.

McKall Miller (Ashburn, Va.) tied the game initially with a solo home run in the top of the second inning, her fifth of the season. She finished the day 3-for-6 with an RBI.

Additional Notes:
-Hughes stole her team-leading sixth base of the season in game two and has yet to be caught in 2017.
-Virginia is now 59-28 all-time against George Mason. The Cavaliers and Patriots have split doubleheaders in each of the last two years.