No. 10 Virginia Tech (11-4) ended its stay at the Lone Star Invitational Sunday with a 4-1 victory over Abilene Christian. The Hokies finished their Texas trip with a record of 4-1, which included a split with No. 9 Texas.
Sophomore Emma Lemley (6-1) pitched her seventh complete game of the season on Sunday, allowing only two hits while striking out 15.
Addy Greene gave her all the support she needed in the second inning, blasting a two-run home run over the right field fence. Jayme Bailey drove in a run in the fourth with a sacrifice fly and Kelsey Brown scampered home in the fifth on a throwing error.
The Hokies now return to Blacksburg to begin ACC play next weekend against NC State.
Head coach Pete D’Amour took advantage the first three weeks of the season to experiment with his lineups and see how his players perform under game conditions. He used 14 different batting orders in VT’s 15 games, and 15 different players have started this season.
In Texas, a few freshmen seemed to pass the eye test with flying colors. Emma Jackson batted for the first time this season on Friday and impressed enough to earn four subsequent starts over the weekend. She rewarded D’Amour’s faith by blasting two home runs, including the game-tying shot against Texas on Friday.
Shortstop Teagan Thrunk locked down the starting shortstop position, going 6-for-11 in Texas with two dingers of her own. She now leads the Hokies in hitting at .406. Emma Ritter, who batted leadoff in 14 of the 15 games, gives the Hokies a second hitter above the .400 line (.404). Her seven hits in Texas included a double, triple, and a home run.
D’Amour has been pleased overall with his team’s performance so far this season.
“We found out a lot about our team during these three weeks against some pretty good competition,” D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “We have some power and we can defend as well as any team I’ve had in Blacksburg.”
The Hokies currently lead the country in home runs with 27. Eleven different players blasted dingers with Greene, Kelsey Bennett and Bre Peck leading the team with four each and Ritter and Jayme Bailey right behind with three each. Grace Chavez pinch hit against Texas and promptly delivered a two-run blast that tied the score early.
But don’t expect D’Amour and team to rest on their laurels.
“We have some things to work on, as every team does,” D’Amour said. “We tend to struggle with our discipline at the plate in the second game of a particular day. And our ‘misses’ when we pitch can sometimes catch too much of the middle of the plate.”
Regarding the pitching, Lemley looked dominating at times and will certainly be the team’s ace. She has 75 strikeouts in 48 innings and only walked six. Lyndsey Grein (3-1) appears to have unusual toughness for a freshman and will be a solid option behind Lemley. She battled No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Oklahoma State and No. 9 Texas without flinching.
Molly Jacobson got her first career start against Texas Southern and promptly threw a three-hit shutout against the Tigers. D’Amour called Jacobson “a model player in our program” and “as good of a teammate as there is on our team.” She and Peck will share the third spot in the pitching rotation, although Peck sat out Saturday and Sunday as an injury precaution.
Defensively, the Hokies have committed only seven errors, which is second in the ACC. But there are times that they failed to make the extraordinary play to bail their pitcher out of a jam. Yet, they also turned four double plays compared to just six in 56 games in 2022.
The Hokies got more aggressive on the basepaths in Texas, doubling their season total by swiping seven bases. Ritter and Kelsey Brown stole three apiece.
D’Amour has consistently stated that the most important goal of the first three weeks was to find out what he has in terms of personnel and to get the team ready for the start of conference play. It appears he did just that.
“Overall, we have four losses against four teams that went to the college World Series last year,” D’Amour pointed out. “We were in the majority of those four games. I like where this team could end up – we just have to continually improve.”
Box Score: No. 10 Virginia Tech 4, Abilene Christian 1