Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 15, 1995 TAG: 9505160041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech, Southern Miss, North Carolina-Charlotte and South Florida finished in a tie for first with identical 11-7 conference records. The Hokies (34-22) will be the top seed at the Metro tournament in Charlotte, N.C., since they have the best record in head-to-head competition against the other three teams.
Hand (4-3), a right-hander, went the distance, giving up four hits while walking one and striking out nine.
The Hokies took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when former William Byrd High School standout Matt Reynolds and Bryan King hit back-to-back solo homers. In the sixth, Kurilla made the key defensive play of the game. With runners at first and second and none out, Southern Miss first baseman Cary Luke hit a line drive up the middle that Kurilla dived to stop. Lying on his stomach, Kurilla flipped the ball to second baseman Mike Terhune to complete a double play. Hand then struck out Derek Reams and did not allow another hit the rest of the way.
The Hokies, who put up three runs in the seventh to take command, won eight consecutive games to close the regular season and will play the winner of the Southern Miss-Tulane game Thursday. The tournament starts Wednesday.
In other sports in the region:
Radford University's bid for the Big South Conference baseball title will have to wait another two days.
The Highlanders' game at Towson State, where they had a chance to clinch the championship with a victory, was postponed Sunday because of rain. Radford will face the Tigers at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday with a chance to win the regular-season crown and a berth in a best-of-three play-in series for an NCAA Tournament berth. If the Highlanders win, they will be home for a doubleheader Thursday against Coppin State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion. If a third game is necessary, it would be played Friday.
Washington and Lee freshman Natalia Garcia and senior Marilyn Baker lost in the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively, at the NCAA Division III women's tennis championships held at Sweet Briar College, but both earned All-America honors for their performances this season.
Baker, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Player of the Year, lost in a quarterfinal to Emory's Amy Smith 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. By finishing in the top 16, Baker earned her third All-America award and ends her singles career with 100 victories.
Garcia, the South Region Freshman of the Year, defeated Alison Mizou of Claremont Mudd-Scripps - the West Region Freshman of the Year - in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 before losing to the No.1-ranked player in the South Region, Nao Kinoshita of Rhodes, 6-4, 6-2 in a semifinal. Garcia reached the semifinal round despite suffering a hamstring injury in a doubles match during the team championships in which Washington and Lee placed third behind Kenyon and UC-San Diego. Garcia and Baker will meet the 1994 NCAA champions, Becky Mallory and Julie Greenwood of Williams College, in a doubles semifinal at 11 a.m. today.
The six-team field is set for the NCAA Division II softball championships Thursday through Sunday at the Moyer Complex in Salem.
Merrimack (Northeast), Bloomsburg (Mid-Atlantic), Kennesaw State (South) and Wisconsin-Parkside (Central) won regional titles Saturday, and Nebraska-Omaha (Midwest) and Humboldt State (West) completed the field by winning regional championships Sunday. The pairings will be set today for the double-elimination championships, which begin with opening ceremonies at 4:45 p.m. Thursday and the first game at 5 p.m.
Tickets, available by calling the Salem Civic Center box office at 800-288-2122, are $5 for adults and $3 for children and students. Tournament passes good for all games are $17.50 for adults and $10 for children and students.
K.J. Hippensteel of Roanoke won the boys' 16-and-under title at the Boonsboro Junior Classic tennis tournament in Lynchburg. Hippensteel celebrated his 15th birthday by defeating top-seeded Carter Morris of Washington 7-5, 7-5. Morris is the No.1 player in the Mid-Atlantic boys' 16-and-under division.
Blake Frost of Roanoke and Bradley Argabright of Vinton placed at the USA Wrestling Southeast Regional Kids Tournament on Saturday night in Hickory, N.C. Frost, a seventh-grader from James Madison Middle School in Roanoke, finished third in the 70-pound weight class of the schoolboy (ages 13-14) division. Argabright, a fourth-grader at Herman L. Horn Elementary School, finished sixth in the 70-pound weight class of the novice (11-12) division.
by CNB