Virginia Tech opened the 2022 season in grand fashion, going 5-0 in the Northern Lights/Southern Nights Tournament in Leesburg, Fla.
The then-tenth ranked Hokies began play on Friday with wins against two Big Ten opponents, a 5-4 victory over Wisconsin and a 3-2 triumph over No. 24 Northwestern.
Saturday saw two more marks in the VT win column – a 5-1 win over Michigan State followed by a 4-3 squeaker over No. 11 Missouri. After a rain delay on Sunday, the Hokies completed their Florida trip with an impressive 6-1 win over No. 19 Kentucky.
Not surprisingly, Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour was pleased with his team’s efforts throughout the weekend.
“Going 5-0 on your opening weekend is a challenge, regardless of who you’re playing,” D’Amour said. “Going 5-0 against all Power 5 opponents is a great start to the year. I was pleased with the pitching and our offense. We need to clean up some areas on defense, but I was pleased overall with how we played.”
Speaking of pitching, All-American Keely Rochard picked up where she left off last season, notching three complete game wins to go along with a save in Tech’s first game.
In her first start of the year against No. 24 Northwestern, she recorded 15 Ks. Rochard pitched a total of 20.1 innings, striking out 34 and registering an ERA of 1.38. For her efforts, she was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
Freshman Emma Lemley made her college debut in the circle, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.66 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.
In her first game, Lemley was the subject of numerous illegal pitch calls, which contributed to eight walks. Combined with some untimely Hokie errors, Wisconsin scored three unearned runs in the seventh inning, prompting D’Amour to bring in Rochard to close out the game.
On day two against Michigan State, Lemley threw four scoreless innings, surrendering only two hits. She was relieved by Mackenzie Osborne, who pitched the final three innings, striking out five. Osborne gave up a two-out home run to lose the shutout bid in the seventh inning.
As a staff, Virginia Tech pitchers struck out 62 batters in 34 innings with an ERA of 1.24.
Offensively, D’Amour experimented with a number of different lineup combinations, and two of his moves paid huge dividends.
Against Wisconsin, he inserted Alexa Milius as a pinch hitter and she promptly delivered a 2-RBI triple. In Sunday’s game vs. Kentucky, Meredith Slaw pinch hit and delivered a grand slam, which broke the game open.
https://twitter.com/HokiesSoftball/status/1492953349271994374?s=20&t=iCRdqooKEFJwA2LzOCBOCw
The four players who started every game (Kelsey Bennett, Cameron Fagan, Mackenzie Lawter, and Jayme Bailey) looked to be in mid-season form, hitting a combined .423 and driving in 10 runs. Bennett, who ended last season red hot, picked up where she left off. The junior was 8-13 (.615) and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Fagan (.474 average) had a team-high nine hits, while Lawter hit .400 and made two diving catches on Sunday that would have been SportsCenter worthy had the games been on television.
“The attitude and effort of our ladies was exceptional this weekend,” D’Amour said. “I tried to move some pieces around to see what worked, and all of our young ladies were ready when called on.”
Expect more experimentation this weekend in Tuscaloosa, although it looks fairly certain that Bennett and Fagan will hold down shortstop and second base, with Bailey being able to move between first base and the outfield.
Defensively, the Hokies made five errors this weekend, which led to five unearned runs for opponents. That will continue to be a point of emphasis going forward as D’Amour and staff continue to tweak lineups and positions.
However, the weekend was a resounding success overall and has registered on a national scale. Amanda Scarborough, one of the primary ESPN softball reporters, had the Hokies on her mind Monday morning.
https://twitter.com/ascarborough/status/1493254622827335684?s=20&t=iCRdqooKEFJwA2LzOCBOCw
Her tweet prompted Victor Anderson from In the Circle Softball to jump on the VT bandwagon.
https://twitter.com/CatbirdRed/status/1493255646225080323?s=20&t=iCRdqooKEFJwA2LzOCBOCw
D1 Softball chimed in with this jewel in their “What We Learned from Opening Week” story:
“Virginia Tech wants that Blacksburg regional. The Hokies have never hosted in the postseason, even in the days when Angela Tincher roamed the circle. After picking up resume-building wins against Kentucky, Missouri and Northwestern as part of a 5-0 weekend, it’s never too early to start making a case to the committee. Kelsey Bennett did Kelsey Bennett things (10 total bases in an 8-for-13 weekend), and Keely Rochard did Keely Rochard things (34 strikeouts in 20.1 innings). Now the Hokies head to Tuscaloosa for two mightily enticing games against Alabama.”
Those “enticing” games in Tuscaloosa against No. 2 Alabama will certainly capture the headlines this week, but Virginia Tech also has a pair of games against Evansville and a single game against Middle Tennessee. The Hokies certainly need to play them one game at a time, and it’s a challenge that D’Amour and Co. are looking forward to.
“After the warm Florida weather, Blacksburg will feel like Antarctica to us this week,” D’Amour said. “We need to have a couple of good practices before we head down south again and face more quality competition.”
TSL will have a preview of next weekend’s games later this week.
All box scores from the tournament: Link