ATHENS, Ga. – Two home runs by Caitlyn Nolan led [RV] Virginia Tech softball to an 8-6 victory over UAB, but the Hokies fell short against No. 8 Georgia, 8-0, in five innings on Day 2 of the Bulldog Classic Saturday at Jack Turner Stadium.
Nolan's two homers versus the Blazers (8-9) marked the second time this week she has hit two in a game (Radford, Feb. 27), while Carrie Eberle (8-1) picked up her fifth straight win in the circle, with a stat line of 6.1 innings pitched, six hits given up and two strikeouts on 82 pitches.
The Bulldogs (16-2) got the best of the Hokes (15-3) in a rematch, allowing only one hit while racking up eight hits off of Keely Rochard (7-2).
Though the day didn't finish as expected, the win over UAB tied the second-best start through 17 games in school history, tying the 2013 team.
GAME 1 – VT 8, UAB 6
Scoring in the first inning for the 10th time this season, the Hokies plated two in the early going. Outfielder Darby Trull was hit by a pitch to get on base, then shortstop Caitlyn Nolan went yard to left field in a 2-2 count.
Third baseman Kelsey Bennett singled to center field in the second, followed by an infield single to the shortstop by first baseman Jayme Bailey. With two outs, Velazquez got a hit to left field for her ninth RBI of the year.
Tech scored for the third straight inning, starting with Trull hitting her second double to left center in as many days. She would score on an error by a Blazer off a fly ball to right field by outfielder Emma Strouth.
Getting up by as many as eight runs, the Hokies plated four in the fifth inning. Trull earned a five-pitch walk and pinch-hitter Meredith Slaw hit a home run to the opposite field, hitting the bleachers in left center. Tech wasn't done yet though, with Nolan hitting a home run to right center for back-to-back homers.
The next batter, Strouth, singled down the right-field line and Bennett earned a walk. Bailey was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Sierra Walton almost hit a grand slam, just pulling the ball a little left of the left foul pole. Later in the at-bat, like 11 pitches later, she would earn a base on balls, letting Strouth cross the plate with an RBI.
With an 8-0 deficit, the Blazers began chipping away at the lead. Eberle started the inning and got a ground ball from the first batter, but a Hokie error got the runner on. Sophomore Keara Napoli came into the circle for Eberle, but would switch spots again after allowing four runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, UAB started with a single and would have another batter reach base off a Tech error. A double down the right-field line scored two Blazers, but a fly out to center would end it at 8-6 Tech.
GAME 2 – VT 0, UGA 8
Tech went down in order the first two innings, while the Bulldogs got a sacrifice fly to center in the bottom of the second to earn a 1-0 advantage.
The third inning was when Tech put the most pressure on, getting a walk from second baseman Maddi Banks and eventually moving to third off a Velazquez double that tipped the third baseman's glove and went down the left-field line. Trull would get a base on balls, loading up the bases with two outs, but Tech couldn't plate them.
The bottom half of the third frame saw Rochard spin back-to-back looking strikeouts, painting the inside corner on the latter.
With two runners on base in the fourth, Georgia hit a base-clearing double to score two more runs, extending its lead to three. After a hard-hit line drive right to the left fielder by Bailey recapped the top of the fifth, the bottom half was sealed up with a walk-off grand slam by catcher Mahlena O'Neal.
NOTES
- Tech had four hitters that turned in multi-hit performances against UAB, with Trull going 2 for 3 with a double and three runs scored, Slaw with a 2-for-2 reading and her third homer of the season, Nolan went 2 for 4 to take the team lead for most home runs on the year with sixth and Bailey finished with a 2-for-3 clip while making 10 putouts at first.
- The back-to-back home runs versus the Blazers marked the third time this season the Hokies have done so in a game. The previous two were on Feb. 8 against Central Michigan (Strouth/Nolan) and Feb. 16 versus Detroit Mercy (Hannah Jones/Banks).
- The run-rule loss to the 'Dawgs marked only the second time this season that has happened to the Hokies ([RV] Texas State, Feb. 22). They usually are on the other side of the run-rule, owning five wins this season of that nature.
- With Velazquez's hit in each game, the sophomore extends her hitting streak to five games. Her longest this season, which is tied for the best on the team, was 10 games to begin the year.
UP NEXT
- The Hokies will conclude the Bulldog Classic on Sunday at 9 a.m. ET in a rematch with UAB (8-9).
