Emma Lemley threw a no-hitter. Yes, another one.
The senior walked the first batter of No. 17 Virginia Tech softball’s 9-0 run-rule win over No. 24 Liberty on Wednesday night. But she retired the next 15, securing her third no-hitter of the season and fourth in a Hokies uniform.
“They actually were hitting me pretty decently during the first few innings,” Lemley told Tech Sideline after the game, “and I thought that [pitching] coach Josh [Johnson] and I were able to adjust and see what we needed to improve on. That’s what we’ve been talking about in practice — just making improvements throughout the game. That was the focus tonight and I think it worked.”
In 68 pitches spanning five innings, Lemley struck out five batters and walked one. Her strikeout total was the fewest in any of her no-hitters; she struck out 13 against Longwood in 2022 and eight and 13 against Charleston and then-No. 21 Northwestern this season, respectively.
She is the first Hokies arm to throw multiple no-hitters against ranked teams. She also joined Angela Tincher, Keely Rochard, Ashlee Dobbe and Clarisa Crowell as the only Virginia Tech pitchers to total four career no-hitters.
Tech (13-3) dominated the Flames (12-4) from the start. Hokies right fielder Cori McMillan, batting leadoff for the first time this season, went yard on the first pitch of the game. McMillan, who said she always wanted to hit a leadoff homer, took a couple of minutes to calm herself before her at bat. Right before she went to the plate, she talked to head coach Pete D’Amour.
“I went back to the dugout and Pete was like, ‘Swing at the first one,’” McMillan said. “I was like, ‘OK.’ … Out of the hand, I was like, ‘I’m just going to swing,’ and I hit it.”
Designated player Jayden Jones hit a homer right after McMillan, then center fielder Bre Peck followed up with another one two batters later.
The Hokies added two more runs in the third. First baseman Michelle Chatfield hit a ground-rule double to score Jones. Then Jordan Lynch grounded out, bringing around catcher Zoe Yaeger.
In the fifth, Tech added four more to trigger a run-rule finish. Peck scored Jones on a single, then Lynch doubled to plate Peck and pinch runner Sara McNelly. Second baseman Rachel Castine followed that up with a sacrifice fly that brought around Chatfield.
“We talk a lot about ‘being dogs vs. being puppies,’” D’Amour said. “I challenged the team to get off the bus as dogs and be the aggressor from the start. They took that to heart.
“We can compete with anybody we play when we come out like we did tonight.”
Castine’s sacrifice fly marked her first RBI this season after she missed all but nine games of the 2024 campaign with a broken wrist. In that span, she hit .526 with five home runs and 17 RBI and was named the D1Softball National Player of the Week.
Lemley tossed the first no-hitter against Liberty since 2023, when NiJaree Canady — the 2024 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year — threw the first of her career for Stanford.
Though it resides in Conference USA, outside of the Power 4 conferences, Liberty has always fielded a strong team. The Flames have advanced to the NCAA Tournament four consecutive seasons and have wins in 2025 against Alabama, Louisville and Rutgers. However, Wednesday’s win marked Tech’s seventh straight against Liberty.
Virginia Tech turns its attention to the inaugural Hokie Invite in Salem, featuring five games between Friday and Sunday. The Hokies will match up against Villanova, Penn State, James Madison and Radford.
Box Score: No. 17 Virginia Tech 9, No. 24 Liberty 0