RALEIGH, N.C. – After dropping the first game of the doubleheader 8-0 in five innings, Virginia Tech softball bounced right back in Game 2, beating NC State 12-2 in six innings Saturday afternoon.
The No. 16/15 Hokies (9-3, 6-3 ACC) overpowered the Wolfpack (12-5, 8-5 ACC), scoring 12 runs on 12 hits to win the third game of the series. Junior pitcher Keely Rochard (7-1) got the win, throwing all six innings and allowing just one earned run off three hits.
Tech's offense did not take kindly to getting shutout for the first time all season in Saturday's Game 1, scoring double-digit runs for the first time this year and recording double-digit hits for the second in Game 2. The Hokies got multi-RBI games from Jayme Bailey, Kelsey Bennett, Addy Greene, Meredith Slaw and Darby Trull, with all five bringing in two runs.
GAME 1
Freshman Ivy Rosenberry (2-2) got the start and began the game with an efficient, eight-pitch first inning including a three-pitch swinging strikeout to end it. However, the Wolfpack were able to score two runs in the second and one run in the fourth before she would exit the game.
Fellow freshman Mackenzie Osborne (0-0) made her third appearance of the year in relief in the fifth inning before NC State ended the game.
GAME 2
The Hokies wasted no time getting on the board, scoring first off a Bailey double to center and again after Bennett singled to right field. NC State answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the first before both teams went scoreless for two full innings.
Tech broke the tie again in the fourth thanks to a solo home run from Bennett, her second long ball of the season, to go up 3-2. Four batters later, Slaw hit a pinch-hit double down the right-field line which scored two more for the Hokies and they would head to the bottom of the fourth up 5-2.
With the bases loaded in the fifth inning, the Hokies scored a run off an error caused by a Morgan Overaitis grounder and then Grace Chavez hit a sacrifice fly to center for a 7-2 lead before Tech broke the game open in the sixth. Once again, an error by the Wolfpack with the bases loaded brought a run home and then Greene doubled to right, scoring two more. Trull made it 12-2 with a two-run single to center field.
Rochard closed out the game in the bottom of the sixth, striking out one and forcing two groundouts. The Williamsburg native allowed just one hit to the 'Pack in the final four innings.
NOTES
- Alexa Milius got her first start in a Hokie uniform in Game 2, starting as the designated player before taking over catching duties in the fourth inning. The sophomore had appeared in five games prior to Saturday.
- Tech hit three doubles in Game 2 Saturday, its most in a single game this season. Their previous high had been two which was accomplished five times this year.
- Catcher Mackenzie Lawter threw out a runner attempting to steal third in Game 1 marking the first time this season she has thrown a runner out. The junior threw out eight runners in 25 games last season.
- Cameron Fagan was the only Hokie to record multiple hits in Game 1 Saturday. The freshman leads the team with 15 hits and a .375 batting average.
- Bailey had two more RBIs in Tech's second game Saturday, upping her team high to 13 RBIs this year. She has knocked in at least one run in six of the Hokies' 12 games.
- Bennett hit her second home run of the year with a solo shot in the fourth inning of Game 2. The sophomore tied for the team lead in home runs last season with seven.
UP NEXT
The Hokies will go for their third ACC series win of the year Sunday at 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.