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Softball

Rochard pitches perfect game against No. 20/17 JMU

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BLACKSBURG – Sophomore Keely Rochard pitched a perfect game in Game 2 of a doubleheader versus No. 20/17 JMU, a No. 22/20 Virginia Tech softball 12-0 run-rule win in five innings, following a 3-1 setback in Game 1 at Tech Softball Park on Wednesday.

The masterful performance marked the seventh perfect game in school history and the first since 2012, when Jasmine Harrell did it in five innings on May 1 versus Liberty in a 9-0 win in Blacksburg. Of the seven, it was the first-ever versus a ranked opponent.

It also marked Rochard's (15-3) third time this season of not allowing a hit in a game (minimum 5.0 innings), joining her previous two no-hitters back in February.

Not only was there quite a performance in the circle, the Hokies (34-6, 13-2 ACC) got it done in the plate in the second game by outhitting the Dukes (28-7, 8-1 CAA) 11-0 behind catcher Lauren Duff's two home runs. Shortstop Caitlyn Nolan and outfielder Darby Trull also hit it over the fence, too.

The first game was a pitcher's duel, as both teams combined for only three hits through six innings of play. But costly errors in the top of the seventh by Tech matched with timely hitting by the Dukes propelled them to score three unanswered and come from behind to win.

QUOTING TECH COACH PETE D'AMOUR

On pitcher Keely Rochard pitching lights out:
"She did," Tech coach Pete D'Amour said. "She threw strikes and commanded her change up. She switched planes on her rise, with it not being just one spot. It was pretty impressive. I think she just threw 60 pitches, too. That was a big-time performance for her."

On how Game 1 materialized and the bounce back in Game 2:
"Game 1 felt like a super regional matchup to me," D'Amour said. "And Carrie [Eberle] really gave us a chance to win. She pitched really well. If we pick up the ball in the first game, it's a different story. 

"And I told the girls that's how super regionals go. It's one or two plays that decide what happens in the game, and you don't know if it's going to be in the seventh inning or the third. I just said it wasn't the end of the world and it was a learning experience on how to handle your emotions in a game like that. Just put it behind us and go get Game 2."

QUOTING PITCHER KEELY ROCHARD

On how she felt after pitching the perfect game:
"I feel really good," Rochard said. "To know that I didn't pitch that well against Georgia, which was a ranked team, I tried not to think too much about it (facing a ranked team again). Honestly, my warm up wasn't that great, but I kept telling myself to spin the ball and maybe you'll get pop ups. So, that's all I was really thinking about, 'Just spin the ball, just spin it.'"

On as the game went on, what was going through your head in the dugout before you kept going back to the circle:
"During the third inning, I wasn't really thinking about it. Then after the fourth, I realized, well, I knew I had the no-hitter going the whole time, but after the fourth I realized that I had the perfect game going, too. So, when I came out in the fifth and it was the 4-5-6 batters, I was like, 'Did I walk anybody?' 

"Then I realized I didn't walk anybody and I was nervous heading out into the fifth (laughing). But then I was like I don't even care if I lose the perfect game or no-hitter because we were up 12. So, my mindset was to just go out there and go right at the batters."

GAME 1 – VT 1, JMU 3

The game, as D'Amour stated, had a unique feeling to it, with two nationally-ranked teams showing their guns early with pitching and defense. Eberle went right to work in the top of the first, making the Dukes go three up, three down, finishing with a strikeout of preseason All-American, just like Eberle, Megan Good.

But Good forced Tech to go three up, three down in the bottom half, sending the game to the second frame scoreless. Another 1-2-3 inning by Eberle brought it to the bottom of the second.

In a 1-0 count, outfielder Emma Strouth got a hold of one on the outside corner, hitting a solo home run down the right-field line to give Tech a 1-0 lead. The two All-America pitchers would go back and forth, making it look easy the next four scoreless innings.

But the top of the seventh started with a single down the left-field line, followed by a throwing error to move the runner to second and give the Dukes some momentum for the first time all game. 

They would put the pressure on in the next at-bat, getting an RBI single from Good to tie it up at 1-all. Then the Dukes added to their momentum with some more hits and Tech shot itself in the foot with some miscues defensively, ending the half inning trailing by two and then would go down in order to let it slip away, 3-1. 

GAME 2 – VT 12, JMU 0 (5)

After losing for the first time when owning a lead heading into the seventh this season, Tech had a short memory and recouped by plating six runs early to take control and never look back. The first two runs came off the bat of Nolan, who hit a rope to left center, scoring first baseman Jayme Bailey after her trot around the bases.

Third baseman Kelsey Bennett knocked in Strouth two batters later and then outfielder Al Velazquez double to right, scoring pinch runner Jada Crittendon. Then Duff hit her first of two homers, a two-run shot to left to make it 6-0 after one.

Strouth doubled to center field, hitting a rocket over the center fielder's head that tipped her glove, scoring Bailey from second. Then in the third, Duff, in a 0-1 count once again, ripped no-doubter to center for a solo homer.

The home runs weren't done yet, as later in the fourth, Trull launched one to right field, scoring Bailey for the two-run home run. Duff had one last say in the fourth, hitting a hard ground ball that richoted off the third baseman's glove, scooting out into the middle of the infield to allow Strouth and Nolan to score to make it 12-0.

With a double-digit lead and her thoughts starting to get uneasy with the pressure of being perfect, Rochard buckled down and made the Dukes go three up, three down to preserve her first-ever perfect game and get the Hokies their second ranked win of the season.

NOTES

- With Strouth's home run in the first game, it broke the school record for most team home runs in a season with 66, passing the 2015 team's total of 65. Game 2 added to that, making Tech own 70 through 40 games.

- Rochard joins an elite club of only five players now at Tech being able to say they threw a perfect game in the maroon and orange, joining Angela Tincher (2), Ashlee Dobbe (2), Katie Maynard (1) and Harrell (1).

- With the win over a ranked opponent at home, it marked the first time Tech has won at home versus a top-25 team since April 6, 2016, which was ironically versus JMU. The last time Tech played in a game when both teams were ranked and won at home was on April 26, 2008, against No. 14 North Carolina. It also marked D'Amour's first ranked win at TSP. 

- Duff's back-to-back home runs marked the third time a Hokie has done that this season in one game, joining Bennett (Texas State, Feb. 23) and catcher Mackenzie Lawter (Binghamton, March 19).

TWEET OF THE GAME
 



UP NEXT

- The Hokies will play host to in-state rival Virginia (16-22, 5-10) this weekend in a three-game series, starting on Friday at 6 p.m. ET. The series will be a part of the two schools' Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529.
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