ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-11 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: IN THE REGION
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
Todd Zirkle and two other Virginia Tech pitchers combined on a three-hitter Thursday as the Hokies defeated Richmond 8-1 in a baseball game in Blacksburg.
The victory was Tech's sixth in a row and improved the Hokies' record to 26-22.
Zirkle (3-1) pitched 71/3 shutout innings, allowing singles in the first and sixth innings. The freshman left-hander retired 12 of 13 batters during one stretch and struck out four.
Spiders third baseman Jeff Wood broke up the shutout with a solo home run off Tech reliever Blake Clancy in the ninth.
Hokies left fielder Eric Shiflett put the team ahead in the second with an RBI single and right fielder Matt Reynolds accounted for the Hokies' next three runs with a sacrifice fly in the third and singles in the fifth and seventh innings. Catcher Barry Gauch added a two-run double in the seventh and third baseman Chad Foutz (Franklin County) hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
Richmond (24-21) has lost its past six games.
In other baseball:
Generals rock H-SC: Washington and Lee smacked four home runs in defeating Hampden-Sydney 8-3 at Bernier Field in Hampden-Sydney.
Freshman right fielder Christian Batcheller (Patrick County) went 3-for-5. It gave him 47 hits for the season, breaking the Generals record. Patrick Hall hit two homers and drove in four runs.
Right-hander Ben Weston (6-3) went the distance for W&L, striking out 12. The Generals improved to 11-14 overall and 6-6 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
All-Dixie honors: Ferrum catcher Riley Hodges (Franklin County) and outfielder Pat Daly were named to the All-Dixie Conference team.
Panthers third baseman Todd Cunningham was a second team selection. North Carolina Wesleyan's Mike Abruzzese was voted player of the year, and his coach, Mike Fox, was coach of the year. Rookie of the year honors went to Scott Bullard of Greensboro.
VMI falls in SC tourney: Eric Johnson and J.P. Burwell belted solo home runs, powering Western Carolina to a 4-3 victory over VMI in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament in Charleston, S.C.
The top-seeded Catamounts (36-16) advanced to a winner's bracket meeting today against Furman, a 3-2 winner over East Tennessee State.
Michael Goldman had three hits for VMI (13-34), which will play East Tennessee State today in the loser's bracket.
SOFTBALL|
UNC-G trips Hokies|
UNC Greensboro rallied with three runs in the top of the seventh inning to hand Virginia Tech a 5-4 loss in Blacksburg.
With Tech ahead 3-2, the Spartans belted three consecutive hits. The Hokies had a chance to pull ahead in the bottom half of the inning, as Michelle Meadows drove in Dawn Medina with a double for the fourth run.
Cave Spring graduate Jennie Kallio (5-8) was the losing pitcher, giving up five runs and striking out two. Meadows, Jennifer McKibben and Laura Flowers each had two hits and a run batted in.
ETC.
Race is on at Franklin Co.|
The Franklin County Speedway season opener is Saturday, with the gates opening at 3 p.m. and racing beginning at 8.
There will be five classes of racing with the 50-lap Late Model Stocks as the feature., along with a Pure Stock race and a 25-lap Any Car race.
Adult admission is $7 and children 10 and under are free. There also will be bike races for children and drag races for fans from the grandstands.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB