NC State
17-16
Penn State - Virginia Tournament
10-17
NC State Splits On Opening Day of Hoo's Who Tournament
3/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 26, 2004
Charlottesville, Va. - NC State opened the 2004 Hoo's Who Tournament with a win over Penn State in the first game, winning 4-1 behind the pitching of Abbie Sims (12-6), and two hits each from Heather Gelbard and Miranda Ervin. In game two, the Virginia Cavaliers rallied from two runs down in the top of the seventh to sneak past the Wolfpack, 5-4.
Sims pitched well in winning her team leading 12th game of the year, striking out six and allowing only one run on six hits. The Wolfpack pounded out eight hits against Penn State.
"Abbie pitched better than expected due to an injury that she sustained last week," head coach Lisa Navas remarked. "She far exceeded our expectations in terms of how well she could perform today, so we were pleased to see her go out and pitch a fine game."
Penn State took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, when Barbie Pierce doubled to right center to drive in the Nittany Lions runner from second off of Sims. The Wolfpack would respond in the bottom half of the inning, when Gelbard lead off the inning with a single to right field, and then advanced on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Allison Cuculich and a passed ball by PSU pitcher Missy Beseres. Jennifer Chamberlin doubled off the wall in right center to bring the tying run home.
NC State took the lead in the bottom half of the third by doing damage with two outs. Miranda Ervin doubled to deep left field, as the ball hit halfway up the four foot fence. Chamberlin drew a walk on four pitches, bringing up Shaina Ervin. Shaina pounded a single through the left side, scoring her sister Miranda from second for a 2-1 Wolfpack lead.
"In the Penn State game we really played well against a good team and hit the ball hard," Navas said. "Overall, we played a strong game defensively, hit the ball well and got a great pitching performance."
The Wolfpack led off the fifth with three straight singles, as Miranda Ervin picked up an RBI with her seeing-eye single past the shortstop. Shaina Ervin would walk to load the bases after Chamberlin popped up, and with one out Sims walked to force in the second run of the inning for a 4-1 NC State lead.
In the second game against Virginia, the Cavaliers pushed ahead 2-0 in the top of the third in a two out rally. Shaina Ervin pitched a no hitter through two and 2/3 of an inning, but three straight Cavalier base hits brought in two runs.
As in the first game against Penn State, NC State would rally to tie to score in the bottom half of the inning after falling behind. Down two runs to the Cavs, Lee Hasper beat out an infield single and Gelbard singled to left. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Sims singled in Hasper to pull the Wolfpack within a single run. Gelbard would score on a wild pitch, just beating the tag from pitcher Coty Tolar to make the score 2-2.
NC State took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, getting a run on three straight singles in almost a repeat of the bottom of the third. Once again, Patterson, who hit for an injured Hasper, and Gelbard singled to start the inning. Sims hit an RBI single to bring home Hasper for the go ahead run and a 3-2 Wolfpack lead.
"I was pleased with how our team battled against Virginia," Navas said. "We had an opportunity to put the game away but a few base running mistakes hurt us. We received a good performance from Shaina on the mound, but we were not able to win in the end."
NC State tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth, giving NC State a 4-2 advantage after Caroline Blount singled to bring in Sherry Lail, the pinch runner who ran for Shaina Ervin after she drew a walk to lead off the inning. In the top of the seventh, Virginia would score three runs to win 5-4, with the first run charged to Ervin after Carla Shepherd came in on relief.
"If we play as well as we did today, we should have no problem being in the championship tomorrow," Navas remarked.
The Wolfpack will play at 9:00 am against Seton Hall and at 1:00 am against Binghamton on Saturday, March 27 in the Hoo's Who Tournament.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sims, Abbie (12-6)
L: Missy Beseres (5-8)
Batting:
2B: Barbie Pierce 1 ; Kate Gentile 2
RBI: Barbie Pierce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Leigh Murray 1
CS: Meghan Wolfer 1
PO: Kelsey Francisco 1
Batting:
2B: Ervin, Miranda 1 ; Chamberlin, Jennifer 1
RBI: Ervin, Miranda 1 ; Chamberlin, Jennifer 1 ; Ervin, Shaina 1 ; Sims, Abbie 1
SH: Cuculich, Allison 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gelbard, Heather 1 ; Poore, Beth 1 ; Ervin, Miranda 1 ; Willems, Jessica 1
CS: Powell, Stacee 1
