Virginia Drops Sunday Tilt At No. 23 South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Virginia softball team (3-2) closed out the opening weekend of play on Sunday (Feb. 11) as the Cavaliers fell at No. 23 South Carolina (5-0) by a score of 7-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a stalemate through the first two innings, South Carolina came up with the big hit in the third, using a two-out grand slam to take the 4-0 lead on the Cavaliers.

The Gamecocks would go on to push a single run home in the fifth before adding two more runs in the sixth for the 7-0 lead.

Virginia got on the board in the seventh inning when Abby Weaver ripped an RBI double to the wall in right center that scored Kamyria Woody-Giggetts from first. Woody-Giggetts entered to run for Macee Eaton who reached on a walk to open the inning.

Eden Bigham (1-1) took the loss as she allowed four runs on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts in 2.2 innings of work.

Sage Mardjetko (1-0) picked up the win for South Carolina, scattering three hits across five innings with one walk and three strikeouts.

NOTES ON THE DAY

• Abby Weaver drove in her first run of the season with the RBI single in the seventh inning.
• Kamyria Woody-Giggetts scored her second run of the year after also scoring against UNCG on Saturday.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“Overall I think the weekend was very positive; we had a lot of good moments. The takeaway from these last two games is that against great opponents you can’t have moments, you have to put together a seven-inning performance. We missed a couple of pitches at the plate and missed a few opportunities on offense and defense. We have to clean that up and be true to who we are at all times. Now it’s about execution and coming into the game and doing the things we planned for. We’ll get back to work to head to Tuscaloosa next weekend.”

ON DECK FOR THE HOOS
Virginia goes back on the road next weekend to compete at the Easton Bama Bash hosted by Alabama. The Cavaliers will five games over the weekend, beginning with Southern Indiana and No. 12 Alabama on Friday (Feb. 16).