Softball ACCtion: Sunday, April 6 :: Maryland tops Florida State on walk-off RBI single; Georgia Tech's Brown breaks ACC RBI record; North Carolina and Virginia Tech cruise.

April 6, 2008

Maryland Defeats Florida State, 4-3, in Final At-Bat

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Senior Sarde Stewart's two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning led the University of Maryland softball team to a 4-3 victory over Florida State on Sunday afternoon. The Terps improve to 27-10, 3-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while the Seminoles drop to 31-15 and 7-5 in the ACC.

Down two runs in their final at-bat, the Terps had two runners on with no one out after Niki Lau singled and Meghan Booth was hit by a Tiffany McDonald (13-5) pitch. Both runners advanced on a Jenny Belak sacrifice bunt. After a McDonald strikeout, the Terps were down to their final out when Stewart stepped up and singled.

The Seminoles took the early advantage when Jessica Gilmore doubled in the second before Carly Wynn singled her home to give Florida State a 1-0 lead.

The Terps responded in the bottom of the inning when Kerry Hickey and Devon Williams led off with consecutive singles. Booth hit a sacrifice fly to score Hickey and Belak followed with the 200th hit of her career to give Maryland a 2-1 advantage.

Hokies Complete Sweep of Cavaliers

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The 21st-ranked Virginia Tech softball team completed a three-game sweep of the University of Virginia with a pair of wins Sunday afternoon at Tech Softball Park, winning 3-0 and 7-1.

Behind a one-hit gem from Angela Tincher, the Hokies took game one Sunday, 3-0. The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Tech finally broke through after failing on several earlier chances. Misty Hall reached on an error and moved up on Jessica Everhart's single to center field. Both moved up a base on Beth Walker's fly out to right field and then Hall had to work some magic to score a run. Whitney Davis tried to plate Hall with a suicide squeeze, but missed, leaving Hall out to dry. But when UVa catcher Alison Pittman tried to throw her out, the ball hit Hall square in the back and Hall turned around and stumbled home for the run.

In the fifth inning, Erin Ota laced a triple to right field and scored on Charisse Mariconda's sacrifice fly. The final run came in the sixth inning when Everhart launched a home run to left-center field - her third of the year.

NC State Completes Series Sweep of Georgia Tech in Thrilling Fashion

RALEIGH, N.C. - A six-run, seven-hit avalanche of Wolfpack offense gave NC State a come-from-behind 9-6 win over Georgia Tech, completing an ACC series sweep at the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Softball Stadium on Sunday, April 6. The win moves the Pack to 22-18 (6-6 ACC), while the Yellow Jackets fall to 17-26 (2-9 ACC).

"I'm really pleased with the way that the team played this weekend," said head coach Lisa Navas. "These three ACC wins are big, and I'm especially proud of the way we earned the last one today. We had different people stepping up all weekend in different situations, and that's what you like to see as the season progresses."

Four red and white players, Ashleigh Davis, Alyssa Allbritten, Kristine Bechtholdt and Alyssa Ishibashi, sprayed two hits each. Bechtholdt, Ishibashi and Claudia Cooper all had two RBIs, while Ishibashi doubled twice.

No. 16 Tar Heels Cruise To 10-1 Win Over Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - No. 16 North Carolina (36-7-1, 10-1 ACC) got on the board early against Boston College on Sunday as they Tar Heels cruised to a 10-1, five-inning road victory. Amber Johnson got the win for the Tar Heels as she tossed five innings of one-run ball while striking out nine batters. Jennifer Jacobs paced the offense as she went 3 for 3 at the plate with two runs scored to go along with a game-high five RBIs. Carolina will continue its eight-game road trip on Wednesday when the Tar Heels travel to Charlotte for a doubleheader scheduled for 4 p.m.

The Tar Heels struck in the very first inning as leadoff hitter Breanna Brown drew a walk and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. Danielle Spaulding delivered the game's opening run when she dropped a single into left field for the RBI. The Tar Heels were held scoreless in the second before putting three more runs on the board in the third. Emily Troup led off with her second home run in as many days when she took a ball to left center for the opposite field blast.