May 14, 2004
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 24 Georgia Tech (42-16) rallied in the seventh inning as junior Kirin Kumar singled up the middle with two outs and runners on second and third, but senior Sara Wissmann was thrown out at the plate on a close call as she was tagged while sliding by as No. 4 Florida State (55-9) held off the Yellow Jackets, 3-2, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Tournament.
Senior Erin Voeltz (15-8) went the distance for the Jackets on the mound, allowing 11 hits, three runs and two earned runs, while striking out two. FSU’s Casey Hunter (31-3) picked up the win for the Seminoles, scattering three hits, allowing two runs and no earned runs while fanning seven.
The Rambling Wreck wasted little time getting on the board as they scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Junior second baseman Katie Donovan walked with one out. Senior shortstop Tara Knudsen then reached base on an error and Donovan moved over to third base. Knudsen stole second base to give Tech runners on second and third with one out. Junior designated hitter Liz Bartle plated Donovan on a ground ball to third base. With runners at second and third and one out, FSU’s Casey Hunter tallied a big strikeout and induced a foul out to third base to end the inning.
The Seminoles’ Elisa Vasquez tied the game with a leadoff home run in the second inning. FSU loaded the bases with two outs on two singles and a walk for Natasha Jacob. Voeltz kept the Seminoles from scoring as she registered a foul out to third base to end the inning.
Florida State put runners at the corners in the third inning on a long single off the fence by Leslie Palmer and a base knock to right field by Vasquez. Tatiana George gave the Tribe their first lead of the game on a base hit that one-hopped over Knudsen at shortstop as the Jackets trailed, 2-1. Voeltz retired the next batter on a pop out to shortstop and recorded a fly out to center field to end the inning.
FSU extended its lead to two runs in the fourth inning on an error by the Yellow Jackets as Jessica van der Linden hit a ground ball up the middle to plate LaShaun Davis. The Seminoles loaded the bases for the second straight inning with two outs, but Voeltz induced another foul out, this time to first base to end the threat as Tech trailed by two, 3-1, after four innings of play.
The Tribe’s Beth Wade doubled to start the fifth inning and moved over to third base after a sacrifice bunt. Voeltz squashed the Seminoles’ threat with two big strikeouts to keep the score 3-1.
Each team went down in order in the sixth inning as the game advanced to the seventh inning with FSU still on top by two. The Rambling Wreck’s Amy Hosier reached base on an error by the shortstop and advanced to second base on a base hit by Wissmann. Sophomore Lauren Schlechte then sacrificed the runners over to second and third with two outs. Kumar singled up the middle on the first pitch to plate Hosier and Wissmann was thrown out trying to score by van der Linden as the FSU catcher made a swipe tag to record the final out of the game.
Tech scored two runs, on three hits and committed one error, while Florida State scored three runs, on 11 hits and had two errors.
Georgia Tech will face Virginia at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning in the elimination bracket. Live stats will be provided on www.ramblinwreck.com.
