LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Moving a scheduled Saturday game to Friday didn’t seem to negatively impact No. 16 Virginia Tech as it swept an ACC doubleheader against Louisville 10-0 (5 innings) and 5-2.
The Hokies (22-5, 4-1 ACC) blasted six home runs on the day — Cori McMillan and Michelle Chatfield had two each — while Sophie Kleiman and Emma Lemley pitched complete games.
“We came out ready in Game 1 in all phases,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the game. “We came out in Game 2 with the same intensity. I thought we just missed some balls throughout the middle innings and then we got the big home run in the seventh. Our pitching and defense were on point today, and it helps to hit six homers.”
After a scoreless first inning in Game 1, the Hokies jumped on Cardinals ace Alyssa Zabala in the second inning. After a couple of walks and a single loaded the bases, Kylie Aldridge cleared them with a base hit to center field. McMillan then made it 5-0 with her first dinger of the day. Chatfield’s two-run blast in the third extended it to 7-0 and Aldridge added one of her own in the fifth.
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Aldridge had a career-high four RBI and credited performance coach and former Navy SEAL Jason Kuhn with her offensive breakout.
“He spoke with us this week and made me understand that I didn’t need to put all the pressure on myself,” Aldridge said. “I’ve got great teammates who always have my back.”
The 10 runs were more than enough for Kleiman (6-0), who limited Louisville to two singles in her third complete game of the year.
In the second game of the day, McMillan led off with her tenth home run of the season, and after a Chatfield single, Rachel Castine hit her second bomb of the year to make it 3-0 before Louisville starter Sam Booe recorded an out. Brooke Gray then relieved Booe and held the Hokies scoreless until the seventh when Chatfield had a two-run blast.
“We were just seeing the ball well,” Chatfield said. “We just missed the first couple at-bats, and we saw where we needed to make a couple of adjustments and we did.”The Hokies lead the ACC in home runs with 44, which have come from 11 different players.
Tech starter Emma Lemley surrendered a two-run home run in the first inning of Friday’s second contest, yet only gave up two singles the rest of the way to record her ACC-leading 11th win and her 10th complete game of the year.
Lemley said her adjustments caused pitching coach Josh Johnson to say after the game that Friday might have been a better performance than her no-hitter against Kentucky on Wednesday, and she agreed with him.
Kleiman and Lemley were helped out by the Virginia Tech defense, which leads the conference in fielding percentage. Louisville entered the game averaging close to four stolen bases per game but was only successful on two of its four attempts on as Aldridge and Zoe Yaeger threw out runners. In addition, Castine turned a picture-perfect double play and threw out a hitter on a ball hit sharply up the middle.
With heavy rain and wind in the forecast, the Hokies will now have a rare Saturday off before playing Louisville on Sunday at noon. The game is scheduled to be shown on ACCNX.“We understand the weekend isn’t over because we won today,” D’Amour said. “We have to be ready on Sunday.”
Game 1: No. 16 Virginia Tech 10, Louisville 0 (5 innings)
Game 2: No. 16 Virginia Tech 5, Louisville 2