May Madness: No. 8 Seed Virginia Upsets Top-Seeded Georgia Tech in First Round of ACC Softball Tournament

Playing in their-first ever ACC softball tournament as the host team, the top-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets gave the droves of navy and gold clad fans in attendance little to cheer about Friday night at Mewborn Field.

After coasting to a 44-9 regular season record with just two conference losses, Georgia Tech was upset in shocking fashion and eliminated in the first round of tournament play by the eighth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers, 6-0.

The 6-0 loss also marks the first time the Yellow Jackets (44-10) have been shutout since an early-season 2-0 loss to Nebraska on Feb. 26.

After the game, shortstop Kelsi Weseman, who was tabbed the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Year, was visibly shell-shocked after the loss.

“I don’t think we really did anything as well as we had wanted to going into today,” said Weseman. “We just weren’t as fired up as we would have liked to have been and they just came out more ready to play than we did.”

Virginia (24-30) sophomore pitcher Melanie Mitchell (17-16) was spectacular on the mound. Mitchell tossed a four-hit, complete game shutout against a Yellow Jacket line-up that entered Friday’s game ranked 10th nationally in team batting average and second in home runs.

“She [Mitchell] threw a great game,” said Georgia Tech head coach Sharon Perkins, who became the first person in history to win ACC Coach of the Year three years in a row. “She made adjustments from when we played them the last time and she looked great and threw a great game.”

After the Jackets failed to capitalize in the bottom of the first with the bases loaded, Virginia jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the second, pushing across a pair of runs on four hits and an error by Georgia Tech right fielder Hayley Downs to go up 2-0.

However, Tech’s starting pitcher Kristen Adkins (20-6) averted further damage by striking out Virginia’s Alison Pittman with the bases loaded and two outs to escape the inning.

Later in the fifth, the Cavaliers tacked on another run and led 3-0 on an RBI single from freshman Stephanie Harris that allowed junior Giannina Cipolloni to slide into home from third, just under the attempted tag by Jackets’ catcher Jessica Weaver.

Mitchell retired three consecutive Yellow Jacket batters to end the sixth inning, before the Cavaliers batters added three more runs in the seventh to claim a 6-0 advantage.

The six-run cushion was more than enough for Mitchell, who earned the complete game shutout by striking out Tech center fielder Christy Jones for the final out.

Despite the disheartening loss, the Yellow Jackets season is by no means finished. Tech will learn its postseason fate on Sunday night when the NCAA selection show is televised live on ESPNU-HD at 10 p.m. The Jackets were ranked 14th in the RPI heading into the tournament.

Perkins had a simple message for her team following Friday’s loss: “Learn from it and let’s take it into the postseason.”