In a marquee midweek contest, No. 14 Virginia Tech (31-9, 11-4 ACC) hosts No. 7 Tennessee (30-5, 10-2 SEC) on Tuesday evening at Tech Softball Park. First pitch is at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
“Having Tennessee come in on a Tuesday for a nationally televised game speaks to where our program is going,” Hokies head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “They’ve obviously been an upper-tier team for a long time, and it will be fun to compete against them in a midweek game. I’m looking forward to seeing a full crowd.”
The Hokies and the Volunteers have met 19 times on the softball diamond, an advantage Tennessee holds 11-8. Last year in Knoxville, Tech prevailed 5-2 with the help of two-run home runs from Bre Peck and Jayme Bailey and Meredith Slaw’s RBI single. Emma Lemley started in the circle for VT, giving up two runs (one earned) in four innings before Keely Rochard closed it out with three scoreless frames.
This season, Tennessee had been on a tremendous roll until it recently dropped back-to-back non-conference games to No. 18 Baylor (1-0, 8-5). Prior to those setbacks, the Volunteers had only lost to SEC foes No. 16 Alabama (4-2) and No. 23 Texas A&M (3-1), along with an early non-conference loss to Cal State Fullerton (5-4).
The strength of Tennessee is a tremendous pitching staff, which is third in the country in both ERA (1.18) and shutouts (18). The Vols are led by graduate student Ashley Rogers (11-1, 0.77 ERA), who has struck out 116 batters in 81⅔ innings. Opposing teams are hitting .109 against her. In her 11 starts, only Illinois in the season-opener was able to reach her for more than one run. In last year’s meeting, Bailey hit her home run off Rogers.
Senior Payton Gottshall (8-0, 1.32 ERA) has also started 11 games and has 73 strikeouts in 47⅔ innings. The third starter is Karlyn Pickens (7-4, 1.59 ERA), a freshman with nine starts and 74 strikeouts in 61⅔ innings this season.
Offensively, the Volunteers have one of the best lead-off batters in the country in senior Kiki Milloy (.429 average, 14 HRs). She has an on-base percentage of .561 and is a perfect 26-for-26 with stolen bases.
She is not a solo act, however. Sophomore McKenna Gibson (.347, 9 HRs), junior Zaida Puni (.317), junior Giulia Koutsoyanopulos (.310) and senior Mackenzie Donihoo (.306) are all hitting north of .300. Donihoo gives Tennessee another second-base stealing threat and is 11-of-13 in 2023.
The Hokies, meanwhile, are coming off a series win over Virginia where they racked up 35 hits and scored 21 runs in the three games. Kelsey Brown has been sizzling since returning from her concussion, hitting .700 in her last five games (14-for-20). Virginia Tech still leads the NCAA in home runs per game (1.92) and is on pace to break the school record of homers in a season (92), which was set in 2019.
Lemley (19-3, 2.44 ERA) looked like her old self in Game 3 in Charlottesville, throwing a two-hit complete game shutout. She has 212 strikeouts in 149.1 innings. Lyndsay Grein (7-3, 3.72 ERA) and Molly Jacobson (4-2, 2.88 ERA) both had solid performances at UVa, too.
Here is the tale of the tape:
