CHARLESTON, S.C. – Behind a balanced attack of well-executed hitting, pitching and defense on Friday, the Virginia Tech softball team began the Pete D'Amour era in exciting fashion by winning twice at the Cougar Classic at Patriots Point.
The first game for the Hokies (2-0) was against Wichita State (1-1), which is receiving votes in the NFCA Preseason Top 25, and they turned in an 11-3 victory in five innings with 13 hits, while later in the day they took down Central Michigan (0-2) 6-0 behind sophomore Keely Rochard (1-0) having a career day in the circle.
Tech moved to 16-8 in season openers, including winning 10 of its last 11 games. It will return to the field on Saturday versus Purdue at 11:15 a.m. ET and College of Charleston at 3:45 p.m.
REMAINING WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Sat. | 11:15 a.m. vs. Purdue | Stats
Sat. | 3:45 p.m. at College of Charleston | Stats
Sun. | 9 a.m. vs. Purdue | Stats
QUOTING COACH PETE D'AMOUR
On what led to the team's success in both games:
"I think it was a mixture of being excited for the first game, being ready to play, and then they were well prepared," D'Amour said. "A mixture of that ended up being a pretty good day.
"The pitching was good, Carrie [Eberle] was throwing well and Keely [Rochard] did, too. So, I was really excited to see that. We had a lot of contributors today, who hit the ball hard and even outs were made hard. So, it was a good day."
On how the freshmen did in their first game(s) at this level:
"Kelsey [Bennett] had a good day and Meredith [Slaw] came in and is ready to swing the bat," D'Amour said. "Mack [Lawter] gave us good innings behind the plate. [Jayme] Bailey had a good day, too.
"The thing with freshmen is it's their first game, so you never know how they're going to react. But I think overall, they all did all right and they will be fine going forward."
GAME 1
Coming out of the gates swinging, Tech jumped out on the scoreboard with four runs in the top of the first inning. Senior Olivia Lattin singled up the middle to get it going, then sophomore Al Velazquez hit a blooper between center and second base and senior Emma Strouth drilled a double over the center fielder's head, knocking in Lattin for the first run of the year.
Seniors Caitlyn Nolan and Lauren Duff got on base with walks to load the bases and senior Sierra Walton almost hit a grand slam, hitting the top of the left-field wall for a two-run double to go up 4-0 in the first frame.
The Hokies would stay hot the following inning, as Lattin and Strouth both hit singles to get on for the ensuing batter, Nolan, who hit a three-run home run deep over center field, extending Tech's lead to 7-0.
Lattin, on her third hit of the game, would punch in sophomore Cana Davis in the third and Velazquez followed suit by bringing in freshman Kelsey Bennett on grounding out to second. Bennett, who made her first-ever start at the collegiate level, made her presence known in the next inning when she delivered Tech's two final runs of the game, a two-run double to right center, giving Tech 11 runs.
On the other end, junior Carrie Eberle (1-0) pitched all five innings and struck out seven batters. The North Carolina native threw shutout ball the first three innings, but gave up three earned runs in the fourth stanza. However, she closed the game with a runner on third and no outs and preserved the mercy-rule win with closing it out.
GAME 2
Similarly to the first contest, Tech once again started with an early lead thanks to leadoff hitter Lattin getting on base and setting the tone. The second baseman singled to left and two others followed with singles of their own – Velazquez and Strouth – with Lattin avoiding the catcher in a pickle to touch home and score the first run of the game. Nolan would make the second run happen, with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Velazquez.
In the third inning, some freshmen showed flashes of their potential as Meredith Slaw singled up the middle and Bennett earned a seven-pitch walk with the bases loaded, earning an RBI.
Back-to-back home runs highlighted the fourth inning, starting with Strouth sending one over the left-field fence to be followed by Nolan, who hit her second of the day, with a solo shot to left. It marked the first time since May, 2, 2018, when Eberle and Walton did it versus Hampton, that Tech had two players hit consecutive homers.
Junior Hannah Jones put the ball in play in the fifth, allowing Davis to score from third on an error to plate Tech's last run.
Rochard was a force to be reckoned with, hitting her spots early and striking out five of the first seven batters she faced. The Williamsburg, Virginia native did not cool off, striking out eight more on her way to a career-high 13 strikeouts and throwing a two-hit shutout.
NOTES
- Rochard's shutout marked her first when throwing a complete game of seven innings and just her second of not allowing a run with more than five innings thrown. Her previous high of strikeouts in a game was seven, which she did twice, doing so against Ball State (March 6, 2018) and Liberty (April 17, 2018).
- The 11 runs scored against Wichita State marked the most runs scored in a season opener since 2011, when Tech beat Charlotte 16-5.
- Getting off to a fast start is not surprising given D'Amour's track record, as the first-year coach went 32-6 at Kennesaw State when scoring in the first inning.
- Nolan finished the day hitting a blistering .800 by going 4 of 5 from the plate with a team-high five RBIs. Lattin and Strouth also finished with four hits.
- When you combine Eberle and Rochard's strikeouts, Tech won the strikeout battle 20-4. It also outhit the Shockers and Chippewas 23-8.
