LEXINGTON, Ky. — Behind yet another no hitter from Emma Lemley, No. 16 Virginia Tech defeated Kentucky 2-0 Wednesday. It was the fourth no-hitter of the year for Lemley, two of which were perfect games.
“That was a big win for us,” Hokies head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the game. “Kentucky is 3-0 in their league and is always a tough opponent. We came out ready, and it started this morning in BP. We had good body language and everyone was engaged the whole game. … Obviously, Emma was Emma. That was one of the best games control-wise that she’s had this year. She’s a handful when she throws like that.”
Lemley was very efficient for the Hokies (20-5) against the Wildcats (11-7), throwing 58 of her 92 pitches for strikes while striking out nine. She surrendered her only walk of the game with a full count with two outs in the sixth inning.
“I felt really good today,” Lemley said. “Last weekend [vs. Virginia], some of my pitches weren’t working exactly how I wanted them to, so I wanted to tweak some things today, and it worked out pretty good. I was trying to stay on the corners as much as I could and Coach Josh [Johnson] called some really good pitches at some really good times.”
The no-hitter was the fifth of Lemley’s career, moving her solely into fourth place on Tech’s all-time no-hitter list behind Angela Tincher (14), Keely Rochard (9) and Ashlee Dobbe (8). It moved her into second place on the most no-hitters (4) in a single season.
“We noticed a few things that were trending with them last weekend,” Johnson said. “[Kentucky] really hit the ball hard, but we saw some gaps that we thought we could throw pitches into, and Emma just executed incredibly well.”
The Tech defense was stellar behind her. Left fielder Lyla Blackwell had five catches, including a diving play in the second inning to rob Kentucky’s Peyton Plotts of an extra-base hit.
“The biggest thing for an outfielder is not to let the ball touch the ground,” Blackwell said. “I had a good jump so I said, ‘I’m going for it.’ I know Bre Peck has my back no matter what. I love being aggressive. I would rather be too aggressive than not aggressive enough.”
“They played really great behind me,” Lemley said.
The Hokies provided Lemley the only run she needed in the first inning. Cori McMillan led off the game with a walk and moved to second on a groundout by Michelle Chatfield. Bre Peck then blooped a single to left to score McMillan.
Virginia Tech gave Lemley an insurance run in the fourth. Zoe Yaeger led off with a double over the left fielder’s head and pinch runner Nora Abromavage moved to third on a single from Jordan Lynch before scoring on a groundout by pinch hitter Jayden Jones.
“We hit some balls hard at times and got caught in the middle of speeds at other times,” D’Amour said. “But we found a way to scratch a few [runs] across.”
The Hokies will now travel to Louisville for the next portion of their trip to the Bluegrass State with games scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All three games will be shown on ACC Network Extra.
Friday, March 14, at Louisville: 6 p.m. ET. Saturday, March 15, at Louisville: 1 p.m. ET. Sunday, March 16, at Louisville: Noon. ET.
Box Score: No. 16 Virginia Tech 2, Kentucky 0