Saturday was a beautiful day for the Virginia softball team in more ways than one. While the spring weather for the Cavaliers' doubleheader against Georgia Tech was almost perfect, the pitching and clutch hitting were even better.
Virginia pitchers gave up five hits in the two games and led the Cavaliers (39-13, 2-2 ACC) to win the first game, 2-1, on a walk-off double by sophomore Ruby Rojas and the second game, 1-0, on an extra-inning home run by senior Meaghan Young.
"It was a great pitching duel," Virginia coach Cheryl Sprangel said. "The pitchers were doing a great job hitting their spots. We had a great outing from both of our pitchers."
In the early game, Virginia freshman pitcher Jessica Edwards recovered from a shaky first inning in which the Yellow Jackets (22-19, 1-3) scored their only run of the day. Edwards allowed only three hits and struck out 13 Jackets.
Virginia tied the game, 1-1, in the third, when Cavalier outfielder Kelly McCabe scored on a wild throw by Georgia Tech's second baseman. With Edwards holding the Yellow Jackets in check, the game remained tied until the seventh inning, when Rojas hammered a double deep into the left-center gap to drive in McCabe to win the game.
In the second game, junior pitcher Erin Allinder dominated Georgia Tech batters throughout and yielded only two hits in a complete game. However, Jacket pitcher Erin Voeltz, who pitched every inning of both games, was equally effective through the first seven innings. Neither pitcher allowed a run through seven.
"I love the 0-0 ballgame," Allinder said. "It means you have to throw your best. If you give up one run, it's over."
The Cavaliers finally got their one run in the extra inning, when Young connected with the first pitch of her at-bat and launched it over the right field fence. Though she says she wasn't looking to hit a home run, the senior outfielder got the pitch she wanted and turned on it.
"I went up there thinking, 'She's going to throw me inside on the first pitch,'" Young said. When Voeltz's offering did come inside, "I hit it, and it's history from there."
What makes Virginia's sweep of the Yellow Jackets even more noteworthy is that the Cavaliers were forced to play without their top offensive weapon, Kristen Dennis. The junior first baseman was injured Thursday in a collision with East Carolina's catcher while sliding into home.
She needed 23 stitches and spent Saturday roaming the dugout on crutches. Sprangel hopes Dennis will be able to return to action in time for the Cavaliers' next ACC match-up against Maryland on April 22.
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Dennis' absence left the Virginia lineup short on run-producing capacity. This season, Dennis leads the Cavaliers in batting average (.394), home runs (11), runs batted in (46) and walks (35). She also holds the team record for career home runs with 16.
Without Dennis, the Virginia offense was anemic at times and struggled to knock in runs. Without their big bat in the middle of the lineup, the Cavaliers stranded 16 runners on base.
"I don't think we did a great job of hitting today," Sprangel said. "Fortunately, we did it when we had to."
Despite Dennis' absence, the Cavalier pitchers never lost faith in the clutch hitting to which Sprangel alluded.
Even when the offense is struggling, "we'll eventually come up with a run," Allinder said. "Anyway, we usually pitch from ahead, so it's kind of fun to actually battle it out."
The dominant performances of Edwards and Allinder, along with the clutch hitting of Rojas and Young, helped Sprangel to her 598th and 599th career coaching victories. She is looking to pass the 600-win milestone today, when the Cavaliers travel to Lynchburg to take on Liberty at 2 p.m.
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