No. 11 Virginia Tech softball had not suffered a three-game sweep since its last trip to Duke in 2024. But with their backs up against the wall, the Hokies salvaged a 10-2 run-rule win over the No. 25 Blue Devils in Durham on Sunday.
Following a rain delay, Tech scored eight runs in the fifth inning to secure the victory.
“The most important part of tonight is we didn’t press or try to do more than we were capable of based on the first two games,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “We’re going to face more adversity this season; we know how to respond to it.”
The Hokies (23-4, 1-2 ACC) dropped their first two games of conference play following a 15-game winning streak. During those losses, though, they were not completely overmatched.
They went into a 6-0 hole on Friday, then erased the deficit before Blue Devils left fielder Adelyn Matthews knocked an RBI double to end the game in the seventh. Virginia Tech left 10 runners on base and hit 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position during Saturday’s effort.
On Sunday, the Hokies pushed back — after a 49-minute stoppage in the top of the fourth inning. Tech left fielder Nora Abromavage and third baseman Jordan Lynch homered in the effort. Designated player Kylie Aldridge tripled. Center fielder Addison Foster tallied two doubles and catcher Zoe Yaeger added one.
Second baseman Rachel Castine opened the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the second, which brought around Foster. Matthews tied the game with an RBI single of her own in the bottom of the frame. The two teams traded runs ahead of the delay via Lynch’s homer and another Matthews RBI; then Virginia Tech pulled away.
Abromavage built a three-run lead with a home run over the right-center field fence. Castine made the score 6-2 with a sacrifice fly. First baseman Michelle Chatfield singled around right fielder Gaby Mizelle, then Aldridge’s triple cleared the bases to give Tech a 9-2 advantage. For good measure, Yaeger scored Aldridge with a base knock through the left side.
“If you look at the totality of the weekend, we hit balls hard all three games,” D’Amour said. “We were three warning track balls away from taking Game 1 and had our opportunities [in] Game 2.”
D’Amour shifted his lineup from the few games before. He moved Chatfield up to the leadoff spot and Lynch down to fifth in the order. Abromavage batted cleanup and Aldridge batted second.
“Going into the weekend, we had our reasons for setting up the lineup the way we did, and we had a pile of hits [in] Game 1 and it could have been more,” D’Amour said. “We adjusted tonight based on who we thought we’d face.”
Two days after Duke tagged her for six runs and drew eight walks, D’Amour started Emma Mazzarone in the circle. The left-handed pitcher limited the Blue Devils to two runs — only one earned — and five hits, while she struck out eight batters and walked four.
In the final game of the series, Tech’s bats found consistent success against Duke’s arms. Ava Bradshaw tossed the first 1 ⅓ innings and gave up a run. Larissa Jacquez went the next 2 ⅔ frames and was tagged for five runs and six hits. Mallory Wheeler allowed the final four runs, though none of them were earned.
Following its best non-conference start in program history, Virginia Tech dropped two contests to begin its ACC slate. Still, more conference games await; the Hokies will play their first games at Tech Softball Park this weekend against NC State. Before then comes a midweek doubleheader in Farmville against Longwood on Wednesday.
Box Score: No. 11 Virginia Tech 10, No. 25 Duke 2 (5 innings)
3 Comments