Select a past-tense verb that represents how No. 12 Virginia Tech softball fared against Boston College this weekend. Obliterated. Shellacked. Destroyed. Crushed. Turn it into your own personal Mad Lib while reading about the Hokies’ 17-3 defeat of the Eagles in Brighton, Mass., on Sunday.
The Hokies (31-4, 7-2 ACC) poured on 12 runs in the second inning. That was preceded by two in the first and succeeded by one and two in the third and fourth frames, respectively. Tech tagged three Eagles (10-23, 2-7 ACC) arms for 16 hits — seven of which resulted in extra bases. The away team hit 12-for-23 with runners on base, including 9-for-17 with someone in scoring position.
Tech left fielder Nora Abromavage slammed a two-run shot for her 11th bomb of the season in the top of the first. Then came the second-inning onslaught.
Second baseman Rachel Castine doubled around designated player Kylie Aldridge and right fielder Gaby Mizelle to start. Third baseman Jordan Lynch made the score 7-0 with her 11th home run of the season, scoring herself, Castine and shortstop Annika Rohs. Catcher Zoe Yaeger followed with a homer of her own and built an eight-run lead.
Virginia Tech didn’t homer after that point, but it didn’t need to. It converted another nine runs by keeping the ball within the confines of the Boston College Softball Field.
Here are the rest of Tech’s scoring plays in the order they occurred: Mizelle singled. She then scored on a wild pitch. Foster singled. Lynch doubled. Pinch hitter Haley Luginbill singled. Lynch doubled. Finally, left fielder Sara McNelly scored Lynch with a fielder’s choice.
The Hokies’ 12-run second inning tied a program record for runs in an inning. Virginia Tech last scored 12 runs in an inning on April 14, 2024 — also against Boston College. During that game, the Hokies trailed 4-1 entering the fifth, but then a Cori McMillan grand slam ended the game.
Hokies head coach Pete D’Amour worked 14 position players into Sunday’s game — 15, if you count pitcher Emma Mazzarone getting a plate appearance in the second inning. Nine of them drove in runs, led by Lynch’s five.
D’Amour also installed four pitchers in the circle: Emma Mazzarone, Sophie Kleiman, Addyson Fisher and Avery Layton. Mazzarone was perfect in the two innings she tossed and struck out three of the six batters she faced. Tech removed her after just 33 pitches, with a 14-run cushion, then rolled with Kleiman for an inning.
Kleiman surrendered all three of Boston College’s runs in 31 pitches, walking two batters and striking out one in the process. But after that, Fisher and Layton took the circle for an inning apiece and were perfect.
None of Boston College’s arms had answers against Tech on Sunday — as was the case throughout the weekend. Bailey Kendziorski started the game in the circle and lasted just 1 ⅓ frames, allowing six runs — five earned — and four hits in the process. Kelly Colleran relieved her and only obtained an out while giving up seven runs and four more hits. Shannon MacLeod mopped up the final 3 ⅓ innings of the game and surrendered four runs and eight hits in what was essentially garbage time.
The Hokies won all three games in Massachusetts this weekend via run-rule. In 16 innings spanning three games, they outscored the Eagles 42-7. (For comparison, on the football field in 2024, Tech beat BC 42-21.)
Virginia Tech has won its last 16 games against Boston College. During his tenure, D’Amour has never lost to the Eagles.
Boston College sits as the lowest-ranked ACC team in the NCAA’s RPI metric at 139th out of 308 Division I teams, and second-lowest of any team in the Power Four (Illinois is 214th). It has lost to Indiana State and Radford this season. The Eagles are a team Virginia Tech should beat every time.
However, the Hokies have tripped up against teams they are better than on paper in previous years. Last season, they dropped two of three to Pitt. The year before, it was a series loss to Syracuse. Those losses hurt their résumé as they yearned for a top-16 seed to host a regional at Tech Softball Park. And with such little margin for error between being on the right and wrong sides of the hosting bubble, they need to take care of business against teams they should beat. Virginia Tech did that in Brighton.
A more challenging foe awaits this week when Clemson visits Tech Softball Park for a three-game set starting on Thursday. The Tigers won the ACC in 2025 and boast wins this season against strong teams, including Oregon, Mississippi State and Georgia, though they have lost to Texas State, Charlotte and Georgia Southern. Plus, they will travel to Blacksburg fresh off a series loss to No. 10 Florida State.
The first game between Virginia Tech and Clemson will take place on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Box Score: No. 12 Virginia Tech 17, Boston College 3 (5 innings)