WASHINGTON, D.C. – After two home runs from Grace Chavez and another outstanding pitching performance from Keely Rochard, Virginia Tech softball defeated George Washington 9-0 in six innings Tuesday to kick off its midweek road trip.
The Hokies (20-4) won their seventh straight game Tuesday with the win over the Colonials (8-14). Rochard (15-3) pitched her fourth straight complete-game shutout, allowing only one hit and striking out 12 batters. The Williamsburg native has not allowed a run in 27.0 innings.
Tech got three home runs Tuesday in its nine-run win, including two from Chavez, who leads the team with seven home runs on the season. Kelsey Bennett, who led the team with three RBIs, hit her fifth home run of the year with a two-run blast to left-center field.
Kelsey Brown had her third three-hit game of season Tuesday. She also scored a run and had a stolen base, adding to her team-leading season total of 17.
THE GAME
The Hokies didn't waste any time getting their first runs on the board after a George Washington error in the first inning allowed Brown to score from second base. Bennett singled to left field on the next at-bat and Darby Trull came home to give Tech a 2-0 lead after one.
Adding to its lead in the third inning, Tech saw a lead-off homer to left field from Chavez. Meredith Slaw picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Jayme Bailey. Mackenzie Lawter lined a ball into the right-center gap for her third double of the year, on which Rebecca Ludowig scored, and Mackenzie Banks singled to right to bring Lawter home.
Chavez crushed her second homer of the game in the sixth inning, flying the ball way over the left-field wall. After Bailey singled, Bennett hit a two-run bomb to left-center for her second and third RBIs of the game. Rochard finished off the game in the bottom of the sixth, retiring the side without allowing a hit.
NOTES
- Chavez hit her team-leading sixth and seventh home runs Tuesday, tying her season total from last season. She now has 14 homers in her career.
- Rochard threw yet another complete-game shutout Tuesday, her fourth in a row. She hasn't allowed a run in 27.0 innings and has allowed only five hits in that span.
- Bennett increased her team-lead in RBIs with three on Tuesday, bringing her season total to 23. She had 45 RBIs last season when she won ACC Freshman of the Year.
- Slaw had an RBI Tuesday via a sacrifice fly. She now has 18 RBIs in 18 games this year, starting nine of those.
UP NEXT
The Hokies return to the field Wednesday against George Mason (7-11) at the Recreation Athletic Complex in Fairfax, Virginia at 4 p.m. ET.
Gallery: (3/10/2020) 2020 SOFTBALL at GEORGE WASHINGTON