North Carolina
Virginia
Virginia Knocks Off Top-Seeded North Carolina, 3-1, In ACC Softball Championships
April 29, 2000 | Softball
April 29, 2000
2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Championships
Game Three
Virginia 3, North Carolina 1
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - No. 4 seed Virginia knocked off top-seeded North Carolina, 3-1, in Game Three of the 2000 Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Championships, Saturday evening at the Seminole Softball Complex. With its second win of the day, UVA improved to 26-34 on the year while the Tar Heels fell to 45-16.
Virginia's Meaghan Young reached on an error to start things off in the first inning and after being sacrificed to second, was driven in by a double by Ruby Rojas. North Carolina's Crystal Henderson answered for the Tar Heels in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot over the left field fence. In the third inning, the Cavaliers scored two runs off of two hits to give UVA a 3-1 advantage. With two out and one on, Stephanie Calhoun doubled to center field, scoring pitcher Kristen Dennis and Katie Weinberg. After giving up three hits and one run in the first inning, UVA pitcher Dennis surrendered just four hits the rest of the game. She struck out six and walked no one and improved her record to 6-12. Offensively for the Cavs, Rojas went 3-for-4 with one RBI while Calhoun drove in two runs, including the game-winner.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Kristen (Dennis), because North Carolina is a good hitting team," UVA Head Coach Cheryl Sprangel said. "She was a little shaky in the first inning, but she settled down nicely. We were able to get her a couple of runs early in the game, which we hadn't done this year."
Kelly Ramsey and Crystal Henderson combined for four of the Tar Heels' seven hits. UNC's Radara McHugh fell to 22-6 with the loss. "I thought we came out the first couple of innings and attacked the ball well," UNC Head Coach Donna Papa said. "Virginia really hit the ball. They didn't have a lot of big hits, but they got the job done. Now we have to take a different path to the championship game."
Virginia will face Florida State at 3 p.m., on Sunday while North Carolina will play the winner of the Georgia Tech/Maryland game at 5 p.m.
GAME THREE 123 456 7 R H E Virginia 102 000 0 3 9 1 North Carolina 100 000 0 1 7 1
WP - Kristen Dennis (6-12)
LP - Radara McHugh (22-6)
* UNC's Crystal Henderson hit her 17th career home run, tying her with Natalie Anter for the all-time UNC record for career home runs.
