LYNCHBURG, Va. – The No. 20/19 Virginia Tech softball team lost a 5-3, nine-inning game to Liberty Wednesday night after the Flames erased a three-run deficit in the seventh inning.
The Hokies (28-12, 19-11 ACC) took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but the Flames (34-12, 13-2 ASUN) were able to tie it and then walk the game off in the bottom of the ninth. Pitcher Keely Rochard (20-7) got the loss despite an eight-inning, complete game with 11 strikeouts.
At the plate, Tech got all three runs Wednesday via the long ball, with Mackenzie Lawter hitting a two-run homer and Alexa Milius hitting a solo shot. Kelsey Brown continued her stellar season in the batter's box with another three-hit game, her second in as many games.
THE GAME
Tech struck first Wednesday when Lawter sent a ball off the scoreboard in center field to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Next inning, Milius hit her fourth home run of the year with a solo homer to right center to give the Hokies a 3-0 lead.
The game held at 3-0 for three full innings as Rochard kept the Flames off the board, including escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth inning unscathed. Before the seventh inning, Rochard had allowed just four hits and struck out nine batters.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Liberty got hit by a pitch and singled, bringing the tying run to the plate, who homered to left center. The Flames won the game in the ninth inning with a two-run home run.
NOTES
- Brown turned in her second straight three-hit performance Wednesday, her seventh three-hit game of the season and 10th of her career. The sophomore leads the team with a .426 batting average.
- Lawter's two-run homer was her third of the season and second in her last six games. Five of her 10 runs batted in on the season have come in that span.
- Despite the loss, Rochard threw her 12th double-digit strikeout game of the season, striking out 11 Liberty batters Wednesday. The junior is averaging over nine strikeouts per start.
UP NEXT
The Hokies will stay on the road for their last ACC regular season series of the year when they visit Syracuse for four games starting Friday at 4 p.m.