Emma Mazzarone and the Hokies swept another SEC foe on Saturday at Auburn. (Virginia Tech athletics)

No. 12 Virginia Tech recorded an 8-0 win over Troy and a 6-2 win over Auburn on Saturday at the Jane B. Moore Invitational to improve to 15-2.

The victory over the Tigers marked the Hokies’ sixth of the season against an SEC school at their home ballpark. They swept South Carolina and Georgia over the last two weeks.

“Overall, it was another good day for us,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the game. “We played two clean games and were relentless from the start. I was really pleased with the pitching performances in both games.”

Game 1: Virginia Tech 8, Troy 0 (5 innings)

Virginia Tech opened play on Saturday morning against Troy and wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard as Michelle Chatfield led off the game with a double, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

After a Zoe Yaeger double, Jordan Lynch increased the lead to 3-0 by hitting a two-run home run, her fourth dinger of the season.

The Hokies added to their total in the third inning. Chatfield hit her second double of the game, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Kylie Aldridge sacrifice fly to make the score 4-0.

In the fourth, Chatfield continued her sizzling day, blasting a two-run homer to increase the margin to 6-0.

A two-run single by Gaby Mizelle in the fifth inning made the score 8-0 and moved the margin into run-rule territory.

Avery Layton got the start in the circle against the Trojans and picked up her third win of the season. She pitched 4 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out five.

Addyson Fisher relieved her in the fifth and recorded the last two outs, including the final out when left fielder Lyla Blackwell gunned down a Troy baserunner at the plate.

Game 2: Virginia Tech 6, Auburn 2

The Hokies also struck early in the Auburn game. Singles by Chatfield and Aldridge, followed by a walk from Lynch, loaded the bases. Addison Foster drove in the first two runs with a single to provide a lead in the opening frame.

In the bottom of the inning, things got contentious when the umpires called Tech starting pitcher Emma Mazzarone for illegal pitches, which resulted in D’Amour being ejected from the game.

“The ejection was just a part of the game,” D’Amour said afterwards. “It wasn’t the greatest experience to watch the game on the bus, but I was proud to see how the team responded.”

And respond the Hokies did. A double play, combined with a Mazzarone strikeout, got the Hokies out of a first-inning jam without allowing a score, and the bats gave Mazzarone plenty of offensive support.

Rachel Castine blasted a two-run home run in the fourth inning — her second of the weekend — to stretch the VT lead to 4-0.

“We were hitting the ball hard at the beginning of the game, but nothing much was falling,” Castine said, “but the team did a really good job of putting together good at-bats, and mine just happened to go over the fence.”

A Lynch triple in the sixth inning drove in another run and set her up to score on a double by Foster to give the Hokies a 6-0 cushion.

Auburn cut the lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the fifth, but Mazzarone did not allow the Tigers to get any closer, striking out seven batters in her second complete game of the season.

Castine admitted that D’Amour’s ejection fired up the Hokies.

“We always know that Coach Pete will stick up for us if need be,” the fifth-year senior said. “We’re always passionate about winning, but seeing Coach Pete go out there and fight for us was kind of cool. It’s easy to get out of your zone when that happens, but we do a really good job at playing our game.”

The Hokies’ hot start to the season hasn’t surprised Castine, either.

“It’s really easy to believe in ourselves,” she said. “We train hard, and we have a team full of really, really talented players. We never underestimate ourselves; we totally believe we can beat anyone.”

Virginia Tech will conclude the weekend with a 10 a.m. ET game on Sunday against USC Upstate, a team it run-ruled 15-4 on Friday.