Emily LeGette and the Hokies bounced back from the Alabama loss by beating Belmont. Can they win two on Sunday? (Virginia Tech athletics)

Virginia Tech softball kept its season alive on Saturday following a loss to No. 15 Alabama with a win over Belmont.

The Hokies (43-12) and Crimson Tide (39-21) advanced to the Tuscaloosa Regional final. Tech has to win twice to advance to a super regional, while Alabama only needs one victory.

Like in the 2024 season, Tech dropped the first game in the winners’ bracket to the top-seeded team — then-No. 6 UCLA in 2024 and the Crimson Tide in 2025. Unlike a season ago, though, the Hokies pushed through the elimination game to prolong their season to Championship Sunday.

“I think today was a different vibe than we felt last year at regionals,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour said. “We had a tough game against Alabama, and I saw some fight — a lot of fight in our team after the game was over. I didn’t necessarily see that last year after UCLA. …

“We played Alabama really tight and the season is not over. In ‘22, we lost to Kentucky [in the Blacksburg Regional] and had to fight to get back to Sunday and took care of business and won the regional. So, the season is not over.”

Game 1: Alabama 4, Virginia Tech 3

For the first time this season, Virginia Tech lost after scoring in the first frame.

Tech was 25-0 after notching at least one first-inning run in previous games this season, though the streak snapped in the winners’ bracket. It sent seven batters to the plate in the frame, capped off by RBI singles from center fielder Bre Peck and first baseman Emily LeGette. 

Alabama punched back in the second, though. With one out, center fielder Abby Duchscherer struck out swinging but the ball skirted past Hokies catcher Zoe Yaeger. Yaeger completed the throw to first for the out, but Brooke Ellestad scored from second base. Then in the third, Crimson Tide second baseman Kali Heivilin sent a 2-2 pitch over the center field fence, turning Virginia Tech’s 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit. 

Then Alabama center fielder Audrey Vandagriff singled around pinch runner Kinley Pate to add another run.

Virginia Tech designated player Kylie Aldridge knocked her second home run in two days to cut Alabama’s lead to one, but her efforts were not enough to stay in the winners’ bracket.

Emma Mazzarone lasted the first 5 ⅔ innings in the circle for the Hokies, allowing three hits, four runs — three of which were earned — and five walks. She struck out six batters and of her 110 pitches, 58 hit the strike zone. Emma Lemley picked up the final out; she faced one batter and forced a flyout.

Jocelyn Briski went the distance for the Crimson Tide. In her seven frames, she surrendered seven hits, three runs and five walks while notching five strikeouts.

Usually a strong fielding team, the Hokies accrued three errors in the first game — one from Yaeger and two from shortstop Annika Rohs.

Game 2: Virginia Tech 11, Belmont 1 (6 innings)

Virginia Tech took a few hours to regroup, went back to the team hotel and churned out a win in the elimination bracket to keep its season alive.

For the second day in a row, the Hokies faced Belmont pitcher Maya Johnson, the nation’s strikeout leader. And for the second day in a row, they tagged her for five runs and cruised to an easy victory.

The top of the first brought a sacrifice fly via Peck to open the scoring. Then Aldridge got herself caught in a rundown between first and second base, but pinch runner Charlotte Moore scored before Belmont first baseman Nicole Hughes tagged her out — so the run counted.

In the second, LeGette smacked a solo shot for her fourth bomb of the season to make it 3-0.

Then came an onslaught of home runs in the fifth and sixth innings for the Hokies.

Third baseman Jordan Lynch knocked two home runs — her second and third tanks of the NCAA Tournament and marking the first multi-homer game of her career. Left fielder Trinity Martin hit a three-run shot in the sixth, then right fielder Cori McMillan blasted one of her own. McMillan had yet to notch an extra-base hit in the NCAA Tournament, so her bomb bodes well for the country’s home run leader. 

Sophie Kleiman cruised through the first five-plus innings, allowing just three hits and one run. She walked four batters and struck out just two, though she pitched to contact and allowed Tech’s defense to lift her up.

“I felt pretty good out there,” Kleiman said. “My team put up a ton of runs, so that makes my job so much easier. It’s pretty nice to pitch with a lead every time.”

Tech first baseman Emily LeGette notched three hits across the two games — a single, double and home run.

“I think just staying locked in the whole time — going pitch-to-pitch — really helps,” LeGette said. “And knowing what you did in your last at bat — if you got a hit, you’re probably not going to get that pitch again. And if you get out, you know what pitch they threw and it’s probably going to come at you again. I was just trying to get inside the ball, trying to get the ball in the air — and it worked out.”

Michelle Chatfield pinch-hit for Rohs in the sixth inning, marking the first time she took the field since sustaining a left wrist injury on May 4. The sophomore fouled off three pitches and worked a full-count walk. D’Amour said her wrist is “good enough to hit.”

With a win in the nightcap, Virginia Tech’s season will survive at least another day. The Hokies must defeat Alabama twice to face the winner of the Norman Regional next weekend.

Before worrying about a potential trip to Oklahoma, though, Alabama awaits. The Hokies and Crimson Tide will face each other on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.