DURHAM, N.C. – Catcher Mackenzie Lawter tied her season high for hits with two, including hitting her first home run of the season, but it was not enough as No. 19/16 Virginia Tech softball fell to No. 12/14 Duke 3-1 on Sunday in the four-game series finale at Duke Softball Stadium.
Lawter (.306 BA, .510 OB), who got a hit in every game of the series, went 6 for 12 at the plate in Durham and slugged an .833 percentage. She was the lone Hokie to score Sunday, but Tech (23-16, 16-6 ACC) did have its chances, leaving eight runners on base and outhitting the Blue Devils (27-6, 15-6) 8-3.
Pitcher Keely Rochard (18-3, 1.00 ERA) went 6.0 innings and threw a three-hitter with three runs allowed.
Duke's Shelby Walters (11-2, 0.92 ERA) held the Hokies to their second-fewest run total of the season (1), while Peyton St. George (11-3, 1.74 ERA) came in for relief and earned her first save this year.
QUOTING TECH COACH PETE D'AMOUR
On the four-game series with nationally-ranked Duke:
"We took 3-of-4 against the seventh-best RPI team in the country," D'Amour said. "We're disappointed that we didn't take the fourth game, which speaks to the expectations we have of ourselves. Overall, it was a good weekend for us."
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the first time in the series the Blue Devils struck first, getting a run in the bottom of the second inning. A four-pitch walk to Duke's right fielder Caroline Jacobsen started the frame and she would steal second on the next at-bat. Another walk would ensue, with the fourth ball being a wild pitch, scooting away from Lawter, who recovered it quickly as Jacobsen advanced to third.
When Lawter threw back to Rochard, the Duke batter, who just got walked and already touched first, began running towards second and Rochard tossed it to second baseman Addy Greene, who applied the tag for the out. However, Jacobsen would sprint home on Rochard's throw to second for the game's first run.
Tech almost evened it up in the top of the fourth, getting three singles in a row with two outs. Right fielder Emma Ritter started it with single through the left side, then designated player Cana Davis singled to left and Greene used her speed and legged out an infield single to third to load up the bases. But an ensuing fly out to center kept the game in Duke's favor.
The next time up for Tech, Lawter took the first pitch she saw to deep left field, hitting off the scoreboard for a solo blast to tie it up at 1-all. But Duke answered in the bottom half to regain the lead. It got runners on third and second with two outs after a walk and a hit, then hit a ball that had eyes between first and second, as first baseman Jayme Bailey and Greene just missed getting a glove on it with the ball trickling into right, giving enough time for the two runners to make it to home safely to make it 3-1.
The Hokies got another opportunity to get some runs in the top of the sixth, getting a single through the right side by Davis and pinch hitter Grave Chaves earned a four-pitch walk with two outs. St. George would come in for Walters and get the next out to keep it a two-run game for Duke.
Rochard made Duke go down in order in the bottom of the sixth, but Tech would do the same in the top of the seventh to fall, 3-1.
NOTES
- Despite the loss, the Hokies won the series 3-1 and have now won six straight league series in a row, which is the longest of any team in the ACC.
- The loss snapped Tech's five-game winning streak, which it has done now three times in the last three weeks dating back to March 13, with winning 15 of its last 18 contests.
- Lawter extended her hitting streak to active team-high five games and reached-base streak to six games.
UP NEXT
- After playing nine straight games on the road, the Hokies will be back at Tech Softball Park this Wednesday in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. ET versus Longwood (15-16, 6-3 Big South) on ACC Network Extra.
