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Softball
Third-Inning Miscues Topple Virginia
April 6, 2018
LOUISVILLE. Ky. – Virginia (11-26, 2-11 ACC) outhit Louisville (25-12, 5-5 ACC), but an 11-run, five-error third inning helped the Cards down the Cavaliers, 14-7, in the series opener.
Virginia racked up seven runs on 12 hits, but a total of seven errors on the day allowed Louisville to score eight unearned runs.
A leadoff single in the first turned into an unearned run, as Louisville capitalized on a two-out error to plate the first run of the game.
Virginia bounced back in the third to take its first lead of the afternoon. The Cavaliers sent eight batters to the plate in the inning and pushed across three runs. Hayley Busby (Phoenix, Ariz.) tied the game with her RBI-single through the right side. Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) drove home two more with her two-out single into left center.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Cardinals hung 11 runs on the board in the home half. Virginia committed five errors in the inning to help Louisville score seven unearned runs. The big inning chased Osherow (5-12) from the circle. She finished the day with eight runs on the line, only four of which were earned.
The Cavaliers bounced back in the fourth to score four times in the inning. Allison Davis (Oak Hill, Va.) doubled high off the wall in center field to score the first run of the inning. Busby followed her by driving a three-run shot off the scoreboard in left center field. The homer was the freshman’s fourth of the season and pulled Virginia within 12-7 on the scoreboard.
Louisville added an insurance run with a leadoff home run in the home half of the fourth and would tack on another in the sixth to make it 14-7.
200 CLUB
With her single in the top of the fifth inning, Allison Davis notched her 200th career hit at Virginia. She is the first Cavalier since Elea Crockett (2004-07) to eclipse 200 career hits. The senior is just the seventh player to ever reach the 200-hit plateau in Virginia history.
NOTING THE HOOS
- Busby’s four RBI set a new career high for the freshman.
- Virginia’s seven errors were one shy of the program record.
- Allison Davis, Lacy Smith, Busby and Osherow all produced multi-hit games.
- The eight unearned runs are the most allowed by Virginia since 2015.
UP NEXT
Virginia and Louisville continue the series on Saturday with first pitch of game two set for 3 p.m.