BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The No. 6 Virginia Tech Hokies exploded for 18 runs Wednesday afternoon in an 18-2 victory over East Tennessee State, propelled by six home runs off the Hokie bats. Tech was just one RBI shy of the school record of 19 set in 2014.
Six different Hokies had a home run with Emma Ritter getting the ball rolling with a three-run shot in the first. Darby Trull, Morgan Overaitis, Alexa Milius, Jayme Bailey and Meredith Slaw also tallied a home run for the Hokies.
Ritter finished her day at the plate with four RBI and Milius and Slaw each added three apiece.
Ritter went 2-for-2 and Milius put together a standout effort as well, going 2-for-2. Overaitis also helped out for Virginia Tech, putting together two hits in two trips to the plate while adding two RBIs.
Sophomore Mackenzie Osborne (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Virginia Tech (15-3). The right-hander went two innings, giving up two runs, on one hit, allowing three walks and striking out two. Freshman Emma Lemley started the ballgame and went two shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking none and striking out three.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hokies got the scoring started early, putting one run on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Virginia Tech's offense started clicking and put up four runs, including a three-run home run off the bat of Ritter.
The Buccaneers failed to push any runs across before the Hokies offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Virginia Tech picked up three runs, including one driven in on a home run by Trull, which brought the Hokies lead to 7-0.
Virginia Tech kept East Tennessee State scoreless before building their lead to 8-0 the following inning. The Hokies recorded a run on Bailey's leadoff home run off junior Riley Tucker.
The Buccaneers scored two in the fourth before Virginia Tech added some insurance in the bottom half of the inning. The Hokies left the yard three times in the inning on the way to scoring 10 runs, bringing the score to 18-2 in favor of Virginia Tech. The score remained 18-2 for the rest of the game, as the Hokies took the win.
GAME NOTES
» Ritter drove in four runs for Virginia Tech.
» Virginia Tech's highest scoring inning was the fourth, when it pushed 10 runs across.
» Virginia Tech took a 4-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Four Hokies had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» Virginia Tech hitters hit six dingers in the ballgame.
» The Hokies had a total of 17 hits.
» The Hokies out-hit the Buccaneers at a 17-2 clip.
» Junior Kelsey Brown stole two bases in Wednesday's game.
» Virginia Tech went 8-for-14 (.571) with runners in scoring position.
» Virginia Tech pitchers faced 19 East Tennessee State hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and two fly balls while striking out eight.
» Ritter led the Hokies at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a home run and four RBIs.
» East Tennessee State was led offensively by freshman Riley Nayadley, who went 1-for-1 with a double.
Gallery: (3-9-2022) SB: ETSU Game