PITTSBURGH – A 27-1 run differential in a doubleheader Saturday at Vartabedian Field was the difference between No. 24 Virginia Tech softball and Pitt, as the Hokies rolled to two victories to start the best ever through 30 games in school history.
Tech (26-4, 7-1 ACC) once again did it with the long ball, totaling six home runs on the day, while showing command in the circle with sprinkling out eight hits in and allowing only one run in 12 innings of work.
Catcher Mackenzie Lawter hit her first-ever grand slam in the first game, finishing with a career-high five RBIs, and Keely Rochard (10-3) dueled a gem, striking out nine batters and only surrendering two hits in Tech's 18-0 win in five innings. The 18-run margin of victory was the most in a conference game in school history.
Pitt (4-24, 1-7) got a run in the second game, scoring it off of Carrie Eberle (16-1), who was pitching on her birthday. The junior pitched her 10thseven-inning game of the season with six hits, two walks and five strikeouts in an efficient 83-pitch outing.
Outfielder Darby Trull posted a team-high three hits and third baseman Kelsey Bennett went deep with a three-run home run, guiding Tech to a 9-1 win. First baseman Jayme Bailey got two hits in each game, the lone player to do so.
QUOTING FIRST BASEMAN JAYME BAILEY
On finding her groove at the plate with racking up four hits on the day:
"I would say it's because of the support from my teammates, honestly," Bailey said. "All of us go through slumps, I started out pretty slow, but the coaching and confidence that everyone has in you feels really good. And our pitchers are doing very well, too, which helps me stay calm once I get to the box, that's helpful."
On coming in as a utility player and now playing at first base:
"Coming in, I had never actually played first before, but I like it," Bailey said. "It's a good position and one that is a very underrated position now that I've played it a little while. I feel like Coach 2K (Kirin Kumar) has helped me a lot with the transition over there."
On the team showcasing its A-game at the plate today:
"Everyone, one through nine, hit so good today," Bailey said. "Once we did get ahead, we had a few pinch hitters come in and they did just as well. Then our pitchers did so good in the circle. So, it was a great team win today."
GAME 1 – VT 18, PITT 0
Pitt put the pressure on first, loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second. But Rochard dug deep and kept the scoreboard at zero with inducing a flyout to left. That would be the closest the Panthers got in the game, with it being their lone time of having a runner on third.
The top of the third was a different story, as the Hokies did not leave too many runners on the base paths in their way to scoring nine runs. Designated player Grace Chavez began the frame with a four-pitch walk and Lawter singled to the shortstop. Outfielder Al Velazquez earned a base on balls and Trull got Tech on the board, with a two-run single through the right side.
With two on, shortstop Caitlyn Nolan went deep for her team-leading ninth home run of the season, a three-run shot to right. Bennett got a walk, Bailey singled off a high fly ball in the infield and Chavez walked for the second time in the inning, loading the bases for Lawter.
In a 2-2 count, Lawter homered to right center for Tech's second grand slam of the season to cap the nine-run inning. But Tech would add on nine more, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and five in the fifth.
In the fourth, outfielder Emma Strouth, Bailey and Chavez had RBI singles and then Lawter came up with a sacrifice fly to center to get it to 18 runs.
Pinch hitter Stacy Kalt, in her fourth at-bat of the season mind you, hit the first home run of her career, a leadoff shot to left center. The next two batters were pinch hitters – Sierra Walton and Cana Davis – and both reached with Walton drawing a six-pitch walk and Davis a single to center.
Strouth would deliver a no-doubter to center, hitting a three-run homer to score Walton and Davis. And the next at-bat saw more of the same, with Bennett going deep to straight-away center for back-to-back home runs.
To close the fifth, Rochard put together her best inning, striking out the side, including the last batter on three straight pitches.
GAME 2 – VT 9, PITT 1
Once again, Tech scored first with this time coming in the top of the second. Bailey led off with a double to left and then Lawter singled to right, scoring Bailey to give Tech a 1-0 lead.
Trull got it started in the third, singling to left and Strouth would single up the middle. With two on in a 1-1 count, Bennett sent a blast to center for a three-run homer. On the eighth pitch she saw, Bailey singled to right, Lawter walked and second baseman Maddi banks slapped a double down the left-field line, scoring Bailey.
Two pitches later, Velazquez did the same, getting a two-bagger to left to drive in Lawter and Banks. Trull singled to center the following at-bat to score Velazquez, making it a seven-run inning.
The Hokies would tack on one more in the top of the seventh, with Chavez singling to right center, getting pinch ran for by freshman Stacy Kalt, and then Kalt would score off a throwing error to first after a bunt by Banks.
Eberle, with an eight-run lead, would make the Panthers go three up, three down, finishing with a strikeout swinging to seal the series win.
NOTES
- The previous best through 30 games in school history was during the 2005 season, when Tech was 25-5. That team went on an 18-game winning streak during that stretch. The 2019 Hokies are currently on a nine-game winning streak.
- The five home runs hit in the first game tied a school record, which Tech already tied this year against NC State. It marked the fourth time in history that it has hit five homers in a game.
- Back-to-back jacks have happened a few times this spring, including in Game 1 in the fifth inning. Strouth and Bennet's consecutive homers marked the fourth time this season that Tech has done so.
- Tech outhit Pitt 26-8 and outslugged them .783-.190 in the two games combined. Trull and Bailey were the lone Hokies to have four hits, while eight players had two or more.
UP NEXT
- The Hokies will return to Vartabedian Field on Sunday for one game starting at noon ET, wrapping up their three-game series with Pitt. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
