Zoe Yaeger and Virginia Tech homered four times on Saturday in their win over Virginia. (Ivan Morozov)

No. 18 Virginia Tech softball once again relied on home runs to take down No. 23 Virginia 6-1 on Saturday at Tech Softball Park.

“We’ve had two battles with a really good Virginia team so far,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “Our at bats have been consistent and we’ve done a good job “wanting the next at bat.” We give a lot of credit to UVa, they’ve stuck with their plan against our pitchers. From a pitching standpoint, I’d like to see us attack the strike zone more efficiently and trust our defense to make plays. Thus far in the season, we’ve shown that we have one of the best defenses in the country.”

Catcher Zoe Yaeger and designated player Emily LeGette notched back-to-back solo blasts in the second inning to put the Hokies (19-4, 2-0 ACC) on the board first. In the third, Yaeger hit her second of the day — a three-run shot that traveled over the left field fence and on to Beamer Way. Right fielder Cori McMillan hit a solo homer in the fourth for good measure, building a 6-0 lead.

Yaeger has four home runs in her last four games, a streak that started with two in a doubleheader last Sunday against James Madison and Radford. Her performance on Saturday followed an 0-for-1 effort with two walks the day before.

“Yesterday during my at-bats, I was really tense,” Yaeger said after Saturday’s game. “I don’t know if it was because it was the first home game and it was against Virginia, but I was just really tense — and when I’m tense, I don’t do well. After the game yesterday, Coach Mike [Lewis] had a talk with me, telling me to not be afraid to make mistakes. Today, I was really calm in the box and I was aggressive, so when I’m aggressive, I do well.”

LeGette’s homer marked her first of the season and third of her career.

McMillan’s knock was her eighth of the season, tying her with center fielder Bre Peck for the team lead. McMillan already holds the team record for home runs in a season with 21 a year ago, while Peck’s 48 career homers sits two shy of Megan Evans’s program record, which she set from 2002-05.

Ten Virginia Tech players have hit home runs this season.

Emma Mazzarone was shaky at times against UVa but got the job done for Virginia Tech. (Jon Fleming)

Starting pitcher Emma Mazzarone struggled at times to command her pitches — she walked five batters while throwing just 38 of her 79 pitches for strikes — but allowed just three hits and no runs. With the bases loaded in the top of the first and one out, she induced two ground balls to escape. Mazzarone induced a double play to get out of a jam with two runners on in the third. 

All in all, the Cavaliers (16-7, 0-2 ACC) stranded 13 runners and hit 2-for-18 with runners on base — including 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. They accumulated five at-bats with the bases loaded and failed to find a hit in any of them.

Sophie Kleiman relieved Mazzarone in the fifth after tossing three innings in relief the day before. In her 2 ⅔ frames, she surrendered two hits and one run while walking five and striking out four. Between Mazzarone and Kleiman, Tech walked 10 batters.

Virginia loaded the bases in the seventh, so D’Amour brought in Emma Lemley to finish the game. It took Lemley six pitches to strike out designated player Reece Holbrook, ending the afternoon.

With Saturday’s win, the Hokies clinched a series win against a ranked Virginia squad and secured a Commonwealth Clash point. Virginia currently leads the head-to-head competition 8-6 across all sports.

Tech will have a chance to sweep its rival on Sunday at noon ET.

Box Score: No. 18 Virginia Tech 6, No. 23 Virginia 1