Michelle Chatfield and Virginia Tech smashed five home runs at Louisville on Sunday. (Virginia Tech athletics)

Two batters into its 12-5 road win on Sunday, No. 16 Virginia Tech softball forced Louisville to make a pitching change.

Hokies right fielder Cori McMillan pulled a 2-0 rise ball deep over the right field fence, then first baseman Michelle Chatfield nearly hit a car onto East Brandeis Avenue past left field. Nine pitches in, Cardinals head coach Holly Aprile swapped arms.

The Hokies (23-5, 5-1 ACC) followed the two-run first with an offensive onslaught; they scored four in the third frame, two in the fifth and another four in the seventh. In all, they homered five times.

In the third, Chatfield knocked her second bomb of the day. Third baseman Jordan Lynch hit a two-run shot of her own later in the frame, then designated player Kylie Aldridge homered one batter later for good measure.

Tech loaded the bases in the fifth before pinch hitter Jayden Jones notched an RBI groundout to bring around Lynch. Chatfield then collected her third RBI of the day with a single to plate Aldridge. 

The seventh inning brought another four runs from three consecutive hits. Center fielder Bre Peck singled, bringing around Chatfield and McMillan. Then catcher Zoe Yaeger singled to score second baseman Rachel Castine. Lynch doubled in Peck soon after.

“The offense was hot all weekend,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “Every hitter all weekend gave us competitive at-bats.”

Emma Mazzarone tossed the first four innings for the Hokies, allowing three hits, three runs and three walks while striking out seven. Two of Mazzarone’s walks came in the bottom of the fifth, so D’Amour swapped Mazzarone for Emma Lemley. She took Tech the rest of the way and allowed two more runs — a seventh-inning, two-run blast — while securing six strikeouts.

“I thought we pitched well, too,” D’Amour said. “We did a lot better job of making Louisville earn their way on.”

The Cardinals (17-10, 2-4 ACC) rotated through five arms on Sunday: Brooke Gray, Lindsey Mullen, Sam Booe, Ryann Sanders and Katie Thatcher.

Gray lasted just two batters — the aforementioned homers from McMillan and Chatfield. Mullen went another 2 ⅔ frames and gave up four runs. Booe lasted 3 ⅓ of her own, surrendering another two. Sanders and Thatcher combined to grab the last three outs, facing 10 batters in the four-run inning.

Louisville had no answer to Tech’s offense during the weekend; the Hokies notched 27 runs across the three-game set. On Sunday, they went 9-for-21 with runners on base, including 5-for-12 with them in scoring position.

Through 28 games, they are averaging 6.68 runs per game while holding their opponents to 2.32.

In Louisville, Chatfield totaled seven hits — including four home runs — and seven RBI. She batted in a team-high three runs on Sunday across her 4-for-5 effort. This followed an 0-for-4 performance during Tech’s midweek game against Kentucky.

“After Wednesday, I knew I had to relax a little bit, to go up there and stop thinking so much,” Chatfield said. “It was just getting back into swinging hard.”

This weekend marked the Hokies’ first ACC sweep of the season. They currently sit tied for third in the league while Louisville is tied for 10th. Though the Cardinals’ record would not indicate they are at the upper echelon of the conference, they are No. 49 in the NCAA’s RPI calculation, which factors record and strength of schedule.

“Sweeping a top-50 team on the road is a big deal,” D’Amour said.

This week will reprieve the Hokies from their conference slate. They will not play an ACC series this weekend, though they return to Tech Softball Park for a doubleheader against Longwood, beginning Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.

Box Score: No. 16 Virginia Tech 12, Louisville 5