It was one of those days that announces that spring is here, with sunshine and warm temperatures sticking around well into dusk.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, it also was one of those days where, despite any and all attempts, the ball seemed to bounce just out of reach, and all the breaks went in Townson's direction.
Towson (17-11, 5-1 CAA) completed a doubleheader sweep over Virginia (14-21, 3-2 ACC), coming back to take a 5-4 victory in the first game and then outlasting the Cavaliers 3-2 in the night cap that lasted ten innings.
"It's a day where everything we tried to do just didn't go right," Virginia coach Cheryl Sprangel said.
In the first game, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind stellar pitching from sophomore Coty Tolar and solid hitting from junior Sara Larquier, senior Jenn Wynn and Tolar.
With the game seemingly in hand, Sprangel opted to take Tolar out in favor of sophomore Meghan O'Leary. In the last three innings, however, the Tigers managed to put up five runs as the Cavaliers broke down defensively and missed opportunities at bat.
"We sat back a little bit after we got the four runs," Crockett said. "We just didn't put it away when it really counted."
Towson's senior pitcher, Jessica Wides, took the win, boosting her record to 6-5 on the year, while the loss dropped Tolar's record to 5-9.
In the second game, Towson threw a much different pitcher, as sophomore Jillian Kiley disrupted Virginia's balance with a steady diet of off-speed pitches. Virginia hitters were chasing after pitches that looked good before breaking into the dirt. The change of pace kept the Cavaliers off the scoreboard until the sixth inning.
"That last game, there were close to 20 pitches that we swung at that are bad pitches, especially when the ball is in the dirt," Sprangel said.
With the Tigers leading 1-0 heading into the sixth inning, Larquier slapped a hard grounder to right center for a double. Wynn, usually known as a power hitter, laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to move Larquier over to third. Larquier then scored on a wild pitch, tying the game, 1-1.
"That run in the sixth gave us a lift," Larquier said. "It gave us a chance to take a deep breath, come back and put a game together."
Virginia and Towson were tied at the end of regulation, taking the game into extra innings. Using the "international tiebreaker," a runner was placed at second base at the start of each half inning.
Neither team scored in the eighth inning, but in the ninth, Towson used two fly balls to the outfield to advance freshman Nina Navarro to third then home, taking the lead 2-1.
In the ninth, Cavalier sophomore catcher Michelle Salmiery knocked a bloop single to short center field, scoring freshman Kierstie Cameron and tying the game back up, 2-2.
In the tenth with two outs, the Tigers added another run on a hard hit single by Fraser that bounced off Cameron at shortstop and rolled into center field, scoring freshman Aimee Rosa from second base.
This time, the Cavaliers had no answer in the bottom of the tenth.
Junior Erin Horn worked all ten innings for the Cavaliers, amassing a career-high 13 strikeouts in the loss. All in all, it was not enough on one of those tough days where nothing seemed to go right.
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