SALEM — Virginia Tech second baseman Rachel Castine stretched her arms in celebration as she touched first base, hugged shortstop Annika Rohs after crossing home plate and strode through a barrage of high fives as she entered the dugout.
Castine hit two home runs in No. 11 Virginia Tech’s 7-6 win over Penn State, so the first paragraph applies twice. The first homer came in the fourth inning to tie the game at five runs apiece. The second gave the Hokies a one-run lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Tech is generally level-headed — never too celebratory in victory and never too glum in defeat. But as both of Castine’s knocks cleared the fence at the Moyer Sports Complex, some of its players left the dugout to greet their fifth-year second baseman.
“It was exciting,” Castine said. “I didn’t realize [the second home run] was the go-ahead home run at first, but once I got back into the dugout, I looked up and saw that. So, it was kind of cool.”
In the nightcap, Castine smacked a third home run of the day during the Hokies’ 8-2 win over Radford.
“Some days, hitting is easier, and I guess today was just one of those days,” she said.
As the team’s lone active fifth-year player, Castine has seen Virginia Tech at its best. She played on the 2022 squad that hosted a super regional, featuring contributions from Cameron Fagan and Addy Greene — who, coincidentally, sat in the opposing dugout as Radford assistants on Saturday.
“She’s older than everybody,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour said. “I heard it in the national championship football game: When you have a roster that’s older kids, they’re always going to beat five-star 18-year-olds. Rachel is 23 years old and has been through the fire for four years now, and she’s a good player.”
The Hokies’ 20-2 start is their best in program history, capped off by a 13-game win streak. The win against the Nittany Lions on Saturday marked their ninth comeback victory of the season.
“We never feel like we’re out of any game, and I’ve said that from day one,” D’Amour said. “We get down, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got firepower.”
Game 1: Virginia Tech 7, Penn State 6
The Hokies trailed by three, then scored three to tie the game. Then they went down by two, and scored two to knot things at five. They allowed another run in the sixth, then leveled the game again. Then came Castine’s aforementioned second home run, building a decisive 7-6 advantage.
Hokies catcher Zoe Yaeger, third baseman Jordan Lynch and center fielder Addison Foster all homered to supplement Castine’s bombs.
For the first time of her young career, starting pitcher Bree Carrico struggled. She lasted just ⅔ of an inning, surrendering three earned runs, two hits and four walks. Two athletic trainers visited Carrico in the circle after her second walk, Carrico tossed a warmup pitch, then stayed in the game. She walked in two runs, then D’Amour removed her.
“I don’t know the specifics,” D’Amour said. “Something about her leg or something, but she’s fine.”
Emma Mazzarone mopped up the next 4 ⅓ innings, during which the Nittany Lions (18-6) scored three runs and notched four hits. Mazzarone struck out eight batters and walked four. Sixty-six of her 112 pitches were strikes.
Avery Layton, a day removed from a five-inning stint against James Madison, finished the game and earned the win. She tossed two innings of one-hit, shutout ball.
Game 2: Virginia Tech 8, Radford 2
Less than three hours removed from an injury scare, Carrico took the circle. She proceeded to throw five innings and not allow any earned runs. The sophomore struck out five batters while walking four and surrendering three hits.
Sophie Kleiman finished the game with two frames of two-hit ball for Tech, striking out two of the eight batters she faced.
And, of course, the Hokies hit. Castine’s third homer of the day came in the fourth inning, then Tech loaded the bases. Left fielder Nora Abromavage sent a 2-1 pitch high and deep over the left-center field fence for a grand slam.
“Oh my gosh, everybody was so hype,” Castine said about the grand slam. “She had it coming; I knew it was coming. Everybody was calling it.”
Combine that with an RBI single from right fielder Gaby Mizelle in the second inning and another from Yaeger in the third and Virginia Tech hit 12-for-29 as a team against the Highlanders (7-13), including 6-for-14 with runners on base and 3-for-8 with them in scoring position.
Virginia Tech will conclude the Hokie Invite with a matchup against Bryant on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET — just over 12 hours after Saturday’s last game ended, factoring in the daylight savings time change.