The Virginia softball team had sunshine on its side yesterday, sweeping an afternoon doubleheader with Liberty. The Cavaliers handled the Flames, 5-2, in the first game of the day but needed an RBI single from pinch hitter Jenn Wynn in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 3-2 extra-innings victory in the nightcap.
Despite being held to two runs on four hits in the first game by freshman pitcher Christina Grimm, Liberty's offense jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the second game. Virginia answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Liberty's junior leader, Lauren Hahn, scored for the Flames in the top of the sixth to tie the game at two.
Junior pitcher Joanna Barstad shut down the Flames in the top of the seventh, retiring the first three batters she faced, but Liberty's freshman hurler, Adrienne Daniels, responded by preserving the tie through the regulation seven.
Even with the extra-innings advantage of the Texas Tiebreaker rule, where a runner is placed on second base to start each half-inning, neither team could break the deadlock in the eighth. Barstad again sat down three straight Flames in the top of the ninth, assisted by a diving catch from senior first baseman Ruby Rojas, who also homered in the first game of the day.
Barstad's Virginia teammates sealed the win for her in the bottom of the ninth. Freshman infielder Sara Larquier, who went 3-3 in the first game, was intentionally walked after Rojas popped out to second base. Tiebreaker runner Jessica Taylor advanced to third on a single by junior third baseman Tracy Sherman. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Wynn dropped a single into centerfield, bringing Taylor across the plate for the game-winning run.
Outstanding pitching marked the day for the Cavaliers, with both pitchers throwing complete games and recording career-high strikeout totals.
Grimm contributed in several ways in the first game, hitting her fifth double of the season and throwing a personal-best eight strikeouts.
"I had a bad game against North Carolina, and I needed this game to bring my head back into everything," Grimm said. "I'm glad it turned out the way it did."
Barstad walked only one of the 36 batters she faced in the nine-inning second contest and struck out 13 to set her own personal record.
"That was one of the best games she's pitched in a long time," coach Cheryl Sprangel said. "I could tell she was on her game today."
Despite the pressure and fatigue she said comes with playing extra innings, Barstad never doubted herself or her teammates down the stretch and was backed by a defense that committed only one error in 17 innings of play yesterday.
"Physically we played a good game, but there were some mental errors and we need to get rid of them," Sprangel said.
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