Two-out pitching woes doomed No. 15 Virginia Tech softball in its 13-4 loss to No. 9 Florida State on Friday night.
Sophie Kleiman started and finished the game in the circle for the Hokies (39-9, 17-5 ACC) — with 2 ⅓ innings from Cassie Grizzard sprinkled in the middle. In 4 ⅔ frames of work, Kleiman allowed 12 hits and 10 runs. She walked five of the 33 batters she faced while striking out four. Grizzard gave up two hits and three runs while walking two batters.
In the first, second and third frames, Kleiman induced two quick outs, then unraveled — allowing four runs, all on singles. In the top of the first, designated player Amaya Ross knocked a bases-loaded single to center field for the Seminoles (43-7, 17-2), scoring right fielder Katie Dack and third baseman Jaysoni Beachum. Then in the second, center fielder Jahni Kerr singled to center field, which brought around shortstop Isa Torres. In the third, pitcher Ashtyn Danley hit another single to score Ross.
The Seminoles notched two more runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and three apiece in the sixth and seventh. The fourth inning brought a two-run shot from catcher Michaela Edenfield. The fifth brought a sacrifice fly courtesy of left fielder Hallie Wacaser, which plated pinch runner Annie Potter.
Grizzard tossed the middle frames, then Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour brought Kleiman back in for the last two. During that span, Ross scored Beachum twice through sacrifice flies, Potter knocked two RBI singles, Danley hit one and Kerr homered.
Florida State hit 9-for-19 with runners on base, including 7-for-16 with them in scoring position. With two outs, it went 9-for-16. Virginia Tech, on the other hand, did not have that same luck.
Not to say the Hokies’ bats went silent; they accumulated eight hits. Four of those came from right fielder Cori McMillan, who went 4-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs. Elsewhere, designated player Kylie Aldridge, center fielder Bre Peck, second baseman Rachel Castine and left fielder Trinity Martin each added knocks.
Most of the Hokies’ struggles at the plate stemmed from Danley keeping them at bay. She wasn’t perfect — she surrendered eight hits and four runs — but was efficient; she struck out five batters and walked just one.
Tech scratched its first run in the third inning, when it put runners on first and second after Martin reached on a fielder’s choice and shortstop Annika Rohs worked a 10-pitch walk to flip the order. McMillan then singled up the middle to bring around Martin and cut the deficit to 4-1. The rest of the Hokies’ offense culminated in an RBI single from Bre Peck and both of McMillan’s bombs.
The Hokies were fine with situational hitting, but they failed to put many runners on base in the first place. They hit 3-for-10 with runners on, including 2-for-5 with them in scoring position — which was not enough against a top-10 team that scored 13 runs.
Virginia Tech has stumbled going down the home stretch of the season, limiting its margin for error. It dropped two of three to Pitt two weekends ago, then the series finale at Cal the week after. The results turned a team which had won 17 consecutive games into one teetering the bubble to be a top-16 team entering this month’s NCAA Tournament, the threshold to host a regional.
The loss on Friday to Florida State did not help its case. Still, this weekend will bring two more opportunities against the Seminoles to gain quality wins, which would bolster its case to the NCAA Tournament selection committee and build momentum into the ACC Tournament.
The first opportunity will come at Tech Softball Park again on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.