BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Senior Keely Rochard earned her 19th win of the season on Friday, striking out 12 Louisville hitters over seven innings of work to help lead the No. 3 Virginia Tech Hokies over the Cardinals 4-3.
In addition to her 12 strikeouts, Rochard (19-2) went seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and zero walks for Virginia Tech (34-6, 16-2).
Junior Meredith Slaw led the way offensively yet again for the Hokies, going 1-for-3 in the ballgame with two RBI. Ally Repko came through for the Hokies as well, going 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit double and an RBI. Senior Darby Trull also helped out, going 2-for-3 for Virginia Tech.
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. Sophomore Cameron Fagan came across to score the lone run of the inning for Virginia Tech and get them on the board.
After the Cardinals rallied to tie the ballgame at one, the Hokies came back to retake the lead in the fourth inning. Virginia Tech scored once on an RBI single off the bat of junior Kelsey Bennett, which brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Hokies.
Virginia Tech held Louisville without a run before expanding their lead to 3-1 the following inning. The Hokies scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Slaw.
The Cardinals fought back, closing the gap to 3-2 until Virginia Tech added some insurance in the sixth. The Hokies sent home a run on Repko's one-out RBI double, bringing the score to 4-2 in favor of Virginia Tech. Louisville put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Hokies still held on for the 4-3 win.
GAME NOTES
» Rochard struck out 12 Cardinals hitters.
» Every Virginia Tech starter reached base safely in the win.
» Virginia Tech grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» The Hokies out-hit the Cardinals at a 9-8 clip.
» Slaw led the Hokies at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
» Louisville was led offensively by sophomore Vanessa Miller, who went 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI.
Gallery: (4-22-2022) SB: Louisville Game 1