CHARLESTON, S.C. – Freshman Kelsey Bennett owned a team-high three hits in the Virginia Tech softball team's 7-5 victory against Purdue and sophomore Keely Rochard tossed a one-hitter in the Hokies' 13-0 win over College of Charleston at the Cougar Classic at Patriots Point on Saturday.
The Hokies, starting 4-0 for the first time since 2015, got out to fast starts in both games, scoring three runs in the first inning versus the Boilermakers (2-2) and four in the second frame against the Cougars (2-1), who are playing as the host this weekend.
Vice versa, Tech got it done in the circle behind Carrie Eberle (2-0) and Rochard (2-0) pitching gems, allowing only one earned run combined in both games.
The final contest of the five-game tournament for the Hokies will be on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET versus Purdue.
QUOTING COACH PETE D'AMOUR
On what stood out from today's two games and key reasons for playing well:
"I think timely hitting and everyone contributed," D'Amour said. "Our pitching was good and I thought we battled through a tough inning during the first game, the last inning – and that's all the maturity process to what we are trying to do. That was good to see because there's an art to closing games out like that. Those types of situations are tough on a coach, but it toughens a team up."
On the turnaround after a tight game and moving onto the next game:
"This team is starting to get the identity of playing game to game," D'Amour said. "So, we took the win and got out of town in the first game, then game two was a whole new ball game. The players don't dwell on too much stuff."
On the things pitcher Keely Rochard did well in her one-hit outing:
"Keely [Rochard] is tough because she's around the strike zone a lot, which I like," D'Amour said. "She moves the ball within the strike zone. She also never gets too high or too low, so you know what're getting out of her."
GAME 1
For the second day in a row, the Hokies got on the board early by scoring three runs in the first inning. Second baseman Olivia Lattin singled to right, her fourth leadoff hit of the season, and right fielder Al Velazquez earned a four-pitch walk to get on for left fielder Emma Strouth.
Strouth hit a ball deep to left, letting Lattin score on a sacrifice fly and Velazquez would score on the next at-bat, thanks to a double to left center by shortstop Caitlyn Nolan, forcing the Boilermakers to make a pitching change. With a new pitcher, first baseman Sierra Walton followed suit with a double of her own, giving Tech a 3-0 lead as Nolan scored heading into the bottom of the first.
With two outs in the top of the second, Lattin hit her first home run of the season and the 21stof her career, clearing the left field wall to make it 4-0 Tech.
The Hokies plated three runs again, this time in the fifth starting with Velazquez hitting a single to left and Strouth earning her first double of the season, going oppo to right center to score Tech's pinch-runner for Velazquez, Kinsey Johnson, who would stay in the game in right field.
Strouth would score on a wild pitch and Nolan crossed the plate after a grounder to short by Walton for the Hokies' final run of the game at seven.
The Boilermakers would begin chipping away in the later half, scoring a run in the sixth inning off an error with pitcher Carrie Eberle in the circle. Eberle, who was throwing a two-hitter through five innings, did not start the bottom of the seventh inning as sophomore Keara Napoli came in to close.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Eberle would come back in and get the final three outs after Purdue plated four runs. The North Carolina native finished the day with allowing five hits, one earned one and struck out three batters on 93 pitches.
GAME 2
Scoring its runs in bunches, Tech scored four in the top of the second beginning with back-to-back singles by two freshmen in Bennett and Meredith Slaw. Junior Dani Hugney would pinch run for Slaw and steal a base, her first of the season, and sophomore Darby Trull earned a six-pitch walk to load up the bases.
Velazquez would single through the right side, driving in Bennett and Hugney, and then Trull would advance to home on a throwing error, clearing the bases. Strouth singled on the next at-bat to push Velazquez across making it a 4-0 game.
The fifth inning would be the most runs scored in the D'Amour era, as 13 batters stepped in the batter's box with Tech scoring nine of them. The Hokies tallied seven hits and three walks while the Cougars had one error. It all started with a walk by Strouth, who would score twice in the inning, the first and last run, getting knocked in by Nolan two times.
Rochard had a no-hitter through four innings and would give up a hit to center field by College of Charleston's Gracyn Thrasher. But Rochard kept it going, getting an out on a foul ball and striking out the next two batters to post her second shutout of the season.
NOTES
- Rochard finished with seven strikeouts, bringing her total through two games to 20. She's only allowed three hits and given up two walks for the best two-game stretch of her career.
- Nolan arguably had the best day at the plate for the Hokies, recording a team-best five hits. The senior has gotten at least two hits in every game this season for a total of nine through four games.
- Velazquez turned in four hits on the day, including a leadoff single to begin the game. That hit marked Tech's fourth straight game it has started out a contest like that.
- Hitting at a high clip, the Hokies forced five pitching changes, seeing a total of seven pitchers in the two games. At the plate, Tech hit .414 today with 24 hits, including six extra-base hits.
