In the region: Virginia Tech softball pulls off 13-inning win over Marshall

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bkaye Smith's two-out RBI single in the 13th inning kept the Hokies' season alive with a 3-2 win over Marshall in a must-win game in the NCAA regional tournament.

Virginia Tech (37-20) and Marshall (36-22) had each played a game earlier in the day, with Tech falling to host No. 17 Kentucky 6-2 and Marshall downing Notre Dame 3-1.

With the win over Marshall, Tech will play Kentucky in the final today at 1 p.m., needing to defeat the Wildcats twice to advance.

Against Marshall, Lauren Gaskill crossed the plate on a throwing error in the first inning to put Tech up 1-0, but Alexandra Bayne's bases-loaded single plated a pair of runs for Marshall in the fifth inning.

Tech's Logan Spaw tied the game in the sixth with an RBI single that scored Kylie McGoldrick.

Tech escaped a pair of bases-loaded jams in extra innings, including one with no outs in the top of the 13th.

In the bottom half of the 13th inning, Amanda Ake doubled to left-center field and advanced to third on an error. Smith took the third pitch of the at-bat from Andi Williamson down the left field line to give Tech the walk-off win.

Jasmin Harrell struck out 13 and gave up 13 hits while setting a new school record with 13 innings pitched. Williamson struck out nine and gave up eight hits over 12 2⁄3 innings.

In the first game of the day, Kentucky's Kelsey Nunley gave up just one hit over seven innings in the win.

Lauren Cumbess hit a two-run home run for the Wildcats in the top of the first inning, but Tech tied it on a two-run single by Smith in the bottom of the second inning.

Kentucky scored an unearned run in the third inning and Krystal Smith hit a solo homer in the fourth. Smith's single in the fifth inning scored another two runs for the Wildcats.

MEN'S TENNIS

Virginia 4, Tennessee 0

URBANA, Ill. - No. 2 Virginia blanked No. 7 Tennessee 4-0 to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Men's Tournament for the fourth straight year.

The Cavaliers (28-0) picked up the doubles point with wins by Jarmere Jenkins and Mac Styslinger in the No. 1 doubles and Justin Shane and Julen Uriguen in the No. 3 doubles.

Alex Domijan downed Hunter Reese 6-2, 6-3 and Jenkins picked up a win as Mikelis Libietis retired. Styslinger punched Virginia's ticket to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over John Collins.

Virginia will play No. 3 Georgia (26-4) on Monday at 2 p.m. at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Illinois. The winner will advance to play in the championship on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Virginia and Georgia have met on two previous occasions in the semifinals, with the Bulldogs winning both meetings.

BASEBALL

Liberty 2, Radford 1

LYNCHBURG - Justin Sizemore's two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted the Flames to a win over the Highlanders in the regular season finale for each team.

Radford (29-24, 14-10) led first as Patrick Marshall scored on a single by Alexander Lee in the top of the first inning.

In the eighth, Liberty's (29-26, 13-11) Bryan Aanderud singled and Alex Close doubled before Sizemore doubled to the gap in left center to bring in the tying and winning runs.

Jared Lyons picked up the win with two innings of hitless relief.

High Point 6, VMI 4

LEXINGTON - High Point scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to sweep the series from VMI at Gray-Minor Stadium.

VMI (20-35, 6-18) scored four runs on five hits, a walk and a pair of errors in the first inning, but the Keydets were only able to muster two hits over the final eight frames. High Point (29-27, 15-9) scored an unearned run in the fourth inning and added another unearned run in the seventh inning.

The Panthers started the top of the ninth with four straight singles and a single by Josh Spano gave High Point the lead. Adam Barry grounded out to score the sixth run of the game.

Jared Avidon picked up the win with four innings of hitless relief, striking out six and giving up two walks.

VMI senior Rob Dickinson grounded out in his final collegiate at-bat and finished the season just shy of a .400 average with a .399 average.

ACC seeds announced

Virginia (45-9, 22-8) and Virginia Tech (35-19, 15-14) earned the third and sixth seeds, respectively, in the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship that begins Wednesday at Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.

North Carolina (47-8, 21-7) claimed the top seed and is joined in Pool A by fourth-seeded N.C. State (42-13, 19-10), fifth-seed Clemson (39-17, 18-12) and eighth-seeded Miami (35-21, 14-16).

Florida State (44-11, 20-10) heads up Pool B as the two seed, joined by Virginia, Virginia Tech and seventh-seeded Georgia Tech (33-23, 15-15).

Each team will play one game against the other teams in its pool and the top team from each pool advances to Sunday's championship game.

Big South tournament set

Radford will be the fourth seed in the Big South Baseball Championship and will face fifth-seed Liberty on Tuesday, with Liberty as the host school for the tournament.

The Highlanders and Flames will square off 45 minutes after the conclusion of top-seeded Campbell and eighth-seeded Charleston Southern's contest, which begins at 4:30 p.m.

Other first-day games include two-seed Coastal Carolina against seven-seed Longwood and three-seed High Point at six-seed Gardner-Webb.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

North Carolina 13, Virginia 9

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 3 North Carolina's first-half surge was too much as the Tar Heels downed Virginia and secured a spot in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Tournament.

The Tar Heels (16-3) scored three goals in the first minute of the match and added another a few minutes later. The Cavaliers (11-10) notched a pair of goals to cut the lead in half, but North Carolina scored the next six goals to take a 10-2 halftime lead.

North Carolina scored three of the first five goals in the second half, capped by Abbey Friend's game-high fifth goal. Virginia scored the next five goals, including two by Courtney Swan to cut the lead to four, but the Cavaliers were unable to tie the game.

Kara Cannizzaro chipped in three goals and two assists for the Tar Heels and Aly Messinger led with three assists.

Kelly Boyd led Virginia with three goals, followed by Swan and Liza Blue with two each.

Megan Ward made seven saves for North Carolina and Kim Kolarik stopped five shots for Virginia.

MEN'S GOLF

UVa's McCarthy earns bid

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Virginia sophomore Denny McCarthy fired a tournament-best 5-under 66 during the final round of the NCAA Columbus Regional at the par-71 Scarlet Course at the Ohio State Golf Club to earn an individual bid to the NCAA Championships.

McCarthy's surge pushed him from 20th place after two rounds to a tie for second by the end of the tournament with a final score of 1-over 214. McCarthy fell four strokes shy of medalist James Erkenbeck of New Mexico. McCarthy scored par or better on all but one hole in the final round.

As a team, the Cavaliers shot a 1-over 285 to move from 10th place to a 6th place finish at 882. The top-five teams advanced to the NCAA Championship at The Capital City Club in Atlanta and the Cavaliers missed the cut by three strokes.

Blacksburg graduate Jake Mondy followed a first-day 75 and a 70 on day two with a 77 on the final round to finish at 9-over 222. Mondy and Auburn will advance to the NCAA Championships as the Tigers finished in a tie for second place with South Carolina at 872. New Mexico earned the top spot on the team leaderboard at 870. Nevada-Las Vegas and Texas Tech also made the cut.

Virginia Tech finishes 10th in regionals

PULLMAN, Wash. - Virginia Tech finished tied with Baylor for 10th place after shooting a three-day score of 3-under-par 861 at the par-72 Palouse Ridge Golf Course in the NCAA Pulllman Regional.

The Hokies carded an 11-under 277 on day one, followed by an even-par 288 on day two. Tech fired an 8-over 296 on the final day of competition and missed the cut for the NCAA Championship as the top five teams from each region advance.

California took first at 821, followed by Texas Christian at 841, St. Mary's (Calif.) in third at 842, Southern California in fourth at 844 and Ball State edging out San Diego State for fifth in a one-hole playoff at 856.

Virginia Tech's Bryce Chalkley and Maclain Huge tied for 11th after shooting 211 over the three rounds. USC's Sam Smith and California's Michael Weaver took medalist honors, each carding a 202 over three rounds.

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