In the region: Rain pushes Roanoke softball's NCAA DIII game to Sunday
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Early wakeup calls go out this morning for softball players representing Roanoke College and Emory.
The two teams tried to finish an NCAA Division III Salem Region elimination game Saturday, but Moyer Complex weather prevented that from happening. A brief but torrential thunderstorm on a field already soaked from a prior cloudburst that at the time had delayed the second of four scheduled games forced suspension of the Maroons-Eagles contest with Emory leading 5-1 in the middle of the fifth inning.
The two losers bracket contestants resume 9 a.m. Mothers Day morning with the Eagles coming to bat.
First thing Sunday is an odd hour for a college softball start, but the Maroons' schedule has been out of whack all spring anyway, coach Mike Mitchell said.
"To be quite honest, that's the way it's been all season, it's been cold or raining or snowing and you could never get anything rolling," Mitchell said. "You kept having to stop for bad weather. Now that's the way this tournament has gone - stop, go, stop - we can't get any momentum going."
The Maroons (31-13) had led 1-0 after Kelly Higbie's two-out RBI single in the third, but the Maroons ran themselves out of the inning same play when Stephanie Clark got hung up between third and home and thrown out at the plate.
The Eagles (39-4), second-seeded in the region and No. 4 nationally in the most recent coaches poll, responded with all five runs in their half of the third. Megan Light's two-run double and Moira Sullivan's two-run homer were the big blows. It was Sullivan's second and her team's 29th home run of the year.
Both teams each used two pitchers Saturday. Emory ace Amanda Kardys entered in relief of starter Sydney Carpenter quickly, coming to the circle with two on and one out in the first. Higbie succeeded Stephanie Clark with two out in the third and immediately yielded the Sullivan blast.
Roanoke has used both pitchers interchangeably throughout the season. Mitchell was not ready to commit to today's starter Saturday evening.
"We'll sleep on it and decide in the morning," Mitchell said.
The winner will play Christopher Newport, which eliminated Neumann 10-4 earlier Saturday.
- Ray Cox
BASEBALL
Virginia Tech 7, Marist 6
BLACKSBURG - Tyler Horan hit a pair of home runs and tallied four RBIs to help lead the Hokies to a win at English Field.
Horan put Virginia Tech (32-19) on the board with two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Marist (25-20-1) and Tech each scored a run in the second inning, but Horan hit a solo home run to put Tech up 4-1.
The Red Foxes scored a run in the fourth inning and three in the fifth inning to take a 5-4 lead, but Horan doubled to pull the Hokies even again. Steve Laurino drove in his second run of the night to give Marist the lead.
Chad Pinder tripled in the bottom of the eighth to give Tech the 7-6 edge, but Marist put two runners on in the top of the ninth to threaten. Tech closer Clark Labitan induced a double-play to end the game.
Horan led the Hokies with four hits and Ryan Burns added three.
Devin Burke picked up his ninth win of the year with four innings of relief work. Labitan earned his eighth save of the year with one inning of work.
Virginia 17, Duke 8
CHARLOTTESVILLE - After a dramatic 6-5 comeback win over the Blue Devils on Friday night, the Cavaliers left no question about Saturday's outcome, pounding Duke for 17 runs on 22 hits.
Virginia (41-8, 19-7) led 2-1 after two innings, but scored five in the third inning and eight in the fourth inning to widen the gap.
Mike Papi led the Cavaliers with four RBIs and four hits, including a double and a triple. Reed Gragnani added three RBIs on three hits for the Cavaliers and Kenny Towns crossed the plate three times.
Each Virginia starter registered at least one hit and one run scored and eight of the nine starters recorded an RBI.
Grant McCabe led Duke with two RBIs.
Scott Silverstein picked up his eighth win of the year with five innings of work, allowing seven hits and six runs. Duke starter Michael Matuella gave up seven runs on 10 hits in 2 2⁄3 innings in the loss.
Charleston Southern 8, Radford 7
RADFORD - John Faircloth's three RBIs and two hits led Charleston Southern, who fended off a come-back attempt from Radford in game one of a doubleheader Saturday.
The Buccaneers led 8-4 before the Highlanders added two in the seventh inning and one in the bottom of the eighth. Zach Woolcock led the Highlanders with four hits and two RBIs. Tyler Costello gave up nine runs over six innings in the loss. Ryan Gunther picked up the win with 5 1⁄3 innings of work.
The second game ended late.
VMI, Winthrop split
LEXINGTON - VMI and Winthrop split Saturday's doubleheader, with Winthrop winning 4-1 in game one and VMI taking game two 7-0.
In game one, Winthrop scored a pair of runs in the second and fifth innings to take the lead. VMI scored one run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Tyler Klitsch picked up the win with 3 2⁄3 innings of work, giving up three hits. Campbell Henkel gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings in the loss.
Keydets starter Reed Garrett was dominant in game two, striking out nine and giving up just three hits and one walk over nine innings for the win. Berkley Hawkins drove in a pair of runs for VMI (20-31, 6-14) and Brandon Angus led the team with three hits. Cody Dolan had two of the three hits for Winthrop (18-32, 6-14).
MEN'S TENNIS
Virginia 4, Minnesota 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia's second ranked men's tennis team blanked No. 35 Minnesota 4-0 to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Virginia (26-0) took the doubles point and Jarmere Jenkins, Mac Styslinger and Julen Uriguen earned singles victories to advance the Cavaliers to the next round.
Virginia will play California on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Urbana, Ill.
Virginia has reached the round of 16 for 10 straight seasons.
Kentucky 4, Virginia Tech 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats knocked No. 41 Virginia Tech from the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
Kentucky (22-11) claimed the doubles point and wins in the No. 1, 2 and 5 singles. Tech's Aaron Gomez earned the lone win of the day, defeating Beck Pennington, 7-5, 6-1.
Tech's Amerigo Contini will participate in the NCAA Singles Championship beginning May 22 in Urbana, Ill.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Virginia 4, Farleigh Dickinson 0
CHARLOTTESVILLE - No. 14 Virginia blanked Farleigh Dickinson 4-0 to open play in the NCAA tournament on Saturday at the Snyder Tennis Center.
Virginia (18-9) claimed the doubles point and then Julia Elbaba, Li Xi and Maria Fuccillo claimed singles victories to advance the Cavaliers.
Virginia will play Texas (18-10) today at 1 p.m.
Sewanee 5, Washington and Lee 4
ATLANTA - No. 16 Washington and Lee fell 5-4 to No. 15 Sewanee in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament on Saturday at Emory University.
The Tigers (19-5) took the three doubles matches from the Generals (19-8) to lead 3-0 early. W&L's Chelsea Mixon, Sonja Meighan, Meghan Buell and Christina Douglas each won their respective singles matches to give W&L a 4-3 edge, but Sewanee closed out the win with wins in the No. 3 and No. 4 singles.
Though the Generals team season comes to an end, Meighan and Buell will compete in the singles portion of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship starting May 23. Meighan will join Patricia Kirkland as a doubles team.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Virginia misses cut
AUBURN, Ala. - The Virginia women's golf team missed the top-eight cut at the NCAA Division I East Regional and was eliminated from the tournament on Sunday at the par-72 Auburn University Club.
After starting the day in 13th place, the Cavaliers posted their lowest round of the tournament to move up to an 11th placed finish. Virginia carded a 296 on the final day to finish with at 894 on the tournament. The last team to make the cut was Auburn, at 877.
Virginia senior Brittany Altomare tied for 15th individually with a final score of one-under 215. After an early double-bogey on the par-five 4th hole, Altomare eagled the par-five 16th hole and finished the round even.
This marks the first time in six seasons that the Cavaliers haven't advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Blacksburg's Ellenbogen strong at NCAA
NORMAN, Okla. - Blacksburg graduate Courtney Ellenbogen posted her best round of the NCAA Central Region tournament, carding a five-under 67 to help Duke to a first-place finish.
Ellenbogen birdied six holes in the third and final round to finish in a tie for eighth with a one-under 215.
The Blue Devils finished with a three-round score of 851, thanks to a tournament-low round of 12-under 276 in the third round.
GOLF
Nadeau-Ferguson capture VSGA Four-Ball crown
NEWPORT NEWS - Charlottesville-area golfers Vincent Nadeau and Brad Ferguson matched a championship-best final round 8-under 62 to post a two-stroke victory Saturday at the 48th Virginia State Golf Association Four-Ball Championship at James River Country Club.
The Gordonsville residents played bogey-free in the final round, completed play at 14-under 126 and claimed their first victory in the event.
Defending champions Keith Decker (Martinsville) and Scott Shingler (Haymarket) shot 63 to finish second, two shots back. Nadeau is a former Penhook resident who played college golf at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Roanoke's Brandon LaCroix and Staunton's Nick Biesecker shot 69-65 to tie for 12th.
TRACK AND FIELD
Host Cavaliers with 10 top-five finishes
CHARLOTTESVILLE - The Virginia men and women's track and field teams combined to post 10 top-five finishes at the Virginia Challenge.
The Cavalier women highlighted the events with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 meters, led by Jordan Lavendar's time of 11.58 seconds. Peyton Chaney finished second at 11.71 and Danielle Williams posted a time of 11.93 to finish third. Edy Ndem placed second in the long jump at 18 feet, 11 ¾ inches and Colette Gnade finished fifth in the 800 m at 2:08.86.
Anthony Kostelac's second-place finish in the 800-meters invitational with a time of 1:48.13 to highlight the Cavalier men's performance. Matthew Armentrout (pole vault), Ryan Satchell (triple jump), Colin Mears (3,000-m steeplechase) and Mark Amirault (5,000 m) all posted third-place finishes.
Virginia Tech's Grant Pollock finished in third in the 800 m with a time of 1:51.02, just ahead of fellow Hokie Tihut Degfae at 1:51.45
Radford hurdler finishes second
ATLANTA - Vincent Wyatt earned a second place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.11 seconds at the Georgia Tech Invitational.
Wyatt qualified with a time of 13.99 seconds Friday and his finals time was the eighth fastest in school history.
Joseph Betts finished 20th in the 200-meters with a time of 21.61 seconds.
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THE ROANOKE TIMES
