Big rally leads Hokies to Regional title
Tech comes back to beat Tennessee, 4-2
May 18, 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A one-hour rain delay to refocus and a little "Enter Sandman" were more than the tonic needed for a struggling Virginia Tech softball team as the Hokies rallied for a 4-2 win over 13th-seeded Tennessee Sunday night at Lee Softball Stadium to clinch the program's first regional championship.
After falling to the Lady Vols 7-1 in the opening game of the day, the Hokies still had one more chance to wrap up the title. But things got off to a rocky start when Tennessee scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning to snatch the momentum early on.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Erin Ota singled before the skies opened up and forced both teams off the field with Tennessee clearly holding control of things. But the Hokies regrouped and made some adjustments during the 56-minute delay.
But just as the delay was about to end, Tennessee officials made the mistake of playing "Enter Sandman" - the unofficial second fight song of the athletic department - and sent the Hokie dugout into a frenzy before the song was quickly cut off, but too late as the spirits had been lifted.
With her energy level at its peak, Misty Hall stepped to the plate and ripped a two-run home run down the left field line off Megan Rhodes to suddenly give the Hokies the lead and renewed confidence. But the inning wasn't over. Kelsey Hoffman drew a walk, forcing a pitching change. Jessica Everhart ripped a double off the left field fence to score Hoffman from first base. After Beth Walker reached on an error to move Everhart to third base, Whitney Davis singled to right field to plate Everhart and make it 4-1.
That would be enough for Angela Tincher (W, 36-7) who rebounded from a rough first game and first inning of the second game to stifle the Lady Vols the rest of the way. She went the whole way, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits with 11 strikeouts.
Tech had just four hits in the game, but they were timely. Ota, Hall, Everhart and Davis had the lone hits, all coming in that big fourth inning.
With the win, the Hokies (47-16) advance to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history. They will take on national No. 4 seed Michigan in a best-of-three series next weekend. Game times and dates will be announced later.






