May 17, 2008

Friday, May 16

Hall's walk-off home run sends Hokies to wild extra-inning win

BLACKSBURG - Same Regional. Same first-round opponent. Same scenario. Same result.

In a scene reminiscent of two years ago at the Knoxville Regional when the Hokies downed Louisville 1-0 in 12 innings in the first game of the tournament, the Virginia Tech softball team used a walk-off home run from Misty Hall in the 10th inning to beat Louisville 1-0 Friday afternoon at Lee Softball Stadium.

The game was a classic pitcher's duel between Tech ace Angela Tincher and Cardinal No. 1 Kristen Wadwell as the two went back-and-forth for nine full innings, shutting both offenses down.

But Hall stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning and ripped the first pitch she saw opposite field over the right field wall to send the Hokies into pandemonium, much to the chagrin of Wadwell, who gave up seven hits in the game.

Seminoles Eliminated After Splitting Two At Tuscaloosa Regional

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Following an exciting 5-3 extra-inning win over Chattanooga, Florida State was eliminated from the NCAA Regional after falling 10-1 in five to Jacksonville State. Seminole pitcher Tiffany McDonald notched a single-game high 17 K's in the win and now holds the FSU all-time strikeout record with 939.

The Garnet and Gold came out fighting in game one on Friday against the Chattanooga Lady Mocs after dropping to Jacksonville State on Thursday. FSU was on the board in the second as Jessica Gilmore scored off a nice bunt single from junior Michelle Snyder. The Seminoles extended their lead to 2-0 in the third as Whitney Buckmon scoring off an RBI single from fellow senior Brittany Osmon.

The Lady Mocs refused to give up as they tied it up with a two-RBI homer from first baseman Michelle Fuzzard in the bottom of the seventh, dragging the game into extra innings.

Much like Thursday's game, Florida State started out with a slight lead after scoring Stager on an error by the Gamecock's catcher. Unfortunately, that would be the only run FSU would take from its opponents as Jacksonville State dominated the last three innings.

Junior south paw Melissa May would take the loss, her third this season, after giving up five runs, two earned, in 3.1 innings pitched. Sophomore Terese Gober entered in the bottom of the fourth to relieve, but after giving three runs and no strikeouts, veteran McDonald was called from the bullpen in hopes of a save. She would give up two runs, one earned, on two hits and one strikeout before JSU clinched the win with a two-run homer from pinch hitter Alana Hicks.

No. 13 North Carolina Drops 7-6 Decision To Campbell

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Danielle Spaulding's two-run home run in the top of the seventh to put No. 13 North Carolina ahead 6-5 was not enough on Friday as Campbell fought back in the bottom of the seventh to push across two runs and knock the Tar Heels out of the NCAA Tournament by a 7-6 margin. North Carolina falls to 50-12-1 on the year, finishing with the most wins in school history.

With three outs remaining in the 2008 season sophomore Danielle Spaulding stepped into a pressure situation and delivered a momentum-changing hit in the top of the seventh inning in the Tar Heels' second game of the NCAA Tournament against Campbell. Spaulding hit a 1-1 pitch to the opposite field that cleared the fence to push the Tar Heels in front by a 6-5 margin.

Senior Cassie Palmer stepped to the plate to lead off the top of the seventh with the Tar Heels trailing 5-4 and worked the count full and fouled off multiple pitches before seeing ball four miss the zone putting the tying runner on base. Spaulding would follow with her 11th home run of the year that brought the girls in Carolina blue storming out of the dugout.

Georgia Tech Softball Falls To #1 Florida 7-2 In NCAA Tournament Opening Game

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The first four batters reached base capped off by a grand slam by Francesca Enea to lead No. 1 Florida (62-2) to a 7-2 win over Georgia Tech (31-30) Friday night n the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before a crowd of 1,541 at Pressly Stadium. Senior Aileen Morales was on base four times for the Jackets as she had a pair of doubles, a walk and was hit by a pitch. Georgia Tech will now play South Florida in an elimination game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. USF beat Tech 1-0 earlier this season.

Play was delayed an hour and a half due to a band of heavy thunderstorms that moved through about an hour before the scheduled first pitch. When play finally began just past 7:30, senior Aileen Morales led off the game with a double to right field on a 12-pitch at bat, but was stranded there. Florida ace Stacey Nelson was able to get junior Blair Shimandle to ground out and then struck out both senior Savannah Brown and junior Whitney Haller to get out of the jam.

In the bottom of the first inning, the Gators loaded the bases with nobody out on a pair of infield singles and a walk and then Francesca Eneva took the first she saw from tech senior pitcher Whitney Humphreys over the fence in left field for a grand slam. It was her 15th home run of the season and second straight year that she has hit a grand slam in the NCAA Tournament against the Yellow Jackets.

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Thursday, May 15

No. 13 Carolina Falls In NCAA Opener, 3-0

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 13 North Carolina dropped a 3-0 decision to BYU to open up the NCAA Regional opening round Thursday at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C. BYU's Angeline Quiocho connected on a three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning to propel the Cougars past the Tar Heels as Carolina will now take on Campbell at 3:30 p.m. on Friday in an elimination contest.

Sophomore Danielle Spaulding opened the game with a quick 1-2-3 inning as she set the first three batters she faced all down on strikes. The Carolina offense could not get much going in the opening two frames as the Tar Heels sent just six batters to the plate against BYU's Christina Gwyn Trice. The Tar Heels were able to put a rally together in the bottom of the third with Bree Ensminger leading off the inning with a single over the shortstop's head and into left field. An Anna Roberts sacrifice bunt moved Ensminger to second with just one out for third baseman Alyssa Francona.

Francona came through with a single to center field but not deep enough to score Ensminger from second as head coach Donna J. Papa held the freshman catcher up at third. The Cougar centerfielder came up firing and sailed a throw over the catcher's head allowing Francona to move to second and give Ensminger a chance to score. Ensminger charged down the line but Trice was there to feed her catcher and nail the runner at home keeping the score knotted at 0-0.

Florida State Drops Game One of Tuscaloosa Regional to Jacksonville State

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Florida State got out to a rocky start at the NCAA Regional on Thursday, dropping to Jacksonville State at the Alabama Softball Complex in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Seminoles gave up an early lead to fall 4-3 to the Gamecocks in game one of the tournament.

Despite the Gamecocks scoring early in the first, it was Florida State that took the lead after one complete inning. The Seminoles scored three and would hold the lead until JSU powered back in the fourth and fifth to edge FSU 4-3.

Senior Whitney Buckmon started things off for Florida State, bunting to the pitcher and using her speed to out run the throw, safely reaching first. Buckmon stole her 25th base of the season and continued to third on an error by JSU's second baseman. Sophomore Robin Ahrberg hit a hopper to the infield and reached on a fielder's choice after the Gamecocks were unsuccessful in throwing out Buckmon at home.