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Softball

Tech softball season recap


BLACKSBURG – A season, quite frankly, most people didn't see coming happened this past spring under the direction of first-year coach Pete D'Amour. One that was remarkable in every sense of the word.

The No. 22/21 Virginia Tech softball team (47-11, 20-4 ACC) posted a 24-game win improvement in 2019 and rewrote the record book along the way, winning the ACC regular-season title and making a regional.

For all that entailed, read below.

THE START
To say the Hokies hit the ground running would be an understatement, beginning the D'Amour era with a bang down in Charleston, South Carolina opening weekend. Over the five-game tournament, Tech outscored its opponents 42-8 and saw shortstop Caitlyn Nolan go off, batting .714 with nine RBIs, two home runs and three doubles to win the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week.

However, some sour luck did happen in the Palmetto State, as second baseman Olivia Lattin tore her ACL on a bang-bang play at first during just the third game of the season. But freshman Maddi Banks rose to the occasion and would go on to fill that role for the rest of the season.

After winning another tournament to its name, Tech found itself 9-0 heading into the third weekend of the season at USF, the second-best start in school history. It did drop two games in one day unfortunately, but ripped off six straight wins after that, including its first win over a ranked opponent on the road since 2013 by beating then-No. 8 Georgia in Athens.

Soon after that victory, Tech put itself back on the map and began getting serious consideration in the top 25 polls, as well as a boost of confidence that it belonged, which it would prove later with another top-25 victory, getting a perfect game from Keely Rochard over then-No. 20/17 JMU.
 



ACC PLAY
The Hokies opened up their first homestand in ACC play, not playing a game at Tech Softball Park until March 9, roughly one month after the season already started. Tech opened conference play with Georgia Tech and took 2-of-3 from the Yellow Jackets for D'Amour's first – of many – ACC series.

Speaking of many, Tech would go on the road the following weekend and sweep NC State, which started a trend, a trend that never happened before in program history – going a perfect 12-0 in ACC road contests to earn four sweeps.

But arguably the most impressive sweep in league action was actually at TSP, where the Hokies swept in-state rival Virginia in the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529 and did so in mind-boggling fashion, with not allowing a Cavalier to score a run, let alone touch third base. The three shutouts marked the first time in school history of not allowing an opponent to score in a three-game series.

Going toe-to-toe with the defending national champion at the time, No. 9/9 Florida State, all season long, Tech was in the driver's seat heading into its last weekend of ACC action. If it won all three games over Boston College, it would be deemed ACC regular-season champions for just the second time in school history. Taking the challenge not lightly, the Hokies run-ruled the Eagles twice and then would win Game 3, 8-1, for the dagger and earn the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship.
 



POSTSEASON
Making the trek to Tallahassee, Florida, Tech would take on the eighth-seeded NC State Wolfpack in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Though the Hokies allowed just three runs and got a combined 12 strikeouts from Carrie Eberle and Rochard, they could only muster two runs – both off solo home runs, Mackenzie Lawter and Maddi Banks – to get upset.
 

 


Yet Tech bounced back once it made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, taking on Illinois in the first game. Arguably one of the cooler moments you'll ever see on the diamond, a pinch-hit home run in the later half of the game took place by senior Sierra Walton – who hadn't had in at-bat in three weeks – sealed the victory for Tech to get them to the 1-0 game against host No. 16/15 Kentucky.

The Wildcats capitalized off of Tech's miscues in that game, scoring five unanswered to go on to put Tech in an elimination game later that night versus Illinois. But the Hokies showed up in the later half again, scoring three in the fifth and an insurance run in the sixth to put it away for good, setting up a rematch with the Wildcats in the regional final – something Tech hadn't been in since 2013.

But the Sunday in the regional final would not go the Hokies' way, a déjà vu if you will, with Tech committing a costly error that would snowball into a five-run inning for UK and it never looked back to win its home regional.

RECORDS & AWARDS
Over 20 records were broken in 2019, with most of those being in offensive categories, but a couple defensive, too. To see those, click here.

Tech earned numerous awards, including three major ones from the ACC – Coach, Pitcher and Freshman of the Year – the NFCA's Coaching Staff of the Year and seven NFCA All-Region selections, while eight VaSID picks and five ACC first-teamers as well. To see those awards and more, click here.
 



THE FUTURE
Tech will look to build off of a great season in 2020, bringing back six starters, and really seven if you count Lattin, and then Rochard in the circle, too, as Tech will be in the mix to win an ACC title and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

A talented freshman class will also be on its way to Blacksburg and you can read more about it by clicking here.