Kylie Aldridge thought she worked a walk with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
She saw a 3-1 dropball that she believed was outside of the strike zone, tossed her bat toward the third-base dugout and started jogging toward first base. Instead, home plate umpire Scott Mair called the pitch strike two.
Virginia Tech’s senior designated player regrouped, dug in and saw one more pitch from Clemson arm Keira Crosby. Aldridge sent it 238 feet over the right-field fence and into the trees.
“I’d probably rather hit than walk, anyways,” Aldridge said after the game.
The bomb gave the No. 12 Hokies a 6-1 advantage. Later in the frame, Tech (32-5, 8-3 ACC) scored three more times to trigger the run-rule, resulting in a 9-1 win for the home side and tying the series at one game apiece.
Aldridge, namely, went 3-for-3 at the plate with the aforementioned home run and a double, the latter of which smacked the left-field wall and was a few feet short of clearing the fence.
“[Aldridge] has always been a really good player. I think the thing that impressed me the most is she’s trying to get better as a senior,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour said. “It’s easy to do that when you’re fighting for a spot as a freshman, sophomore or junior. But when you’re a senior, you can think you’re good enough already — and she doesn’t. She’s a good player, and she’s worked hard for it and she continues to do that.”
Though she obtained 14 outs without allowing a hit, Virginia Tech pitcher Bree Carrico ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning.
The redshirt freshman wasn’t flawless in her first four frames, allowing three walks up to that point, but she didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning. Finally, she surrendered a home run to Tigers nine-hole outfielder Taylor Pipkins to help Clemson make the score 5-1. Carrico knew the blast broke the no-hit bid, too.
“I was a little disappointed, but it was only one [run],” Carrico said.
Singles by Tigers center fielder Jamison Brockenbrough and shortstop Kiley Channell, followed by a walk to first baseman Mac Pavese, loaded the bases. Then, Carrico settled down. She threw two quick strikes to right fielder Macey Cintron, who subsequently hit a long fly ball to left field — but right at Nora Abromavage. With the tying run at home plate, Virginia Tech avoided further trouble.
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“I think [what changed was to] let them hit the ball,” Carrico said. “They were on my pitches all night, but I was letting my defense work.”
Carrico was under less pressure than Emma Mazzarone, her predecessor from the night before, because she worked with a lead from nearly the start. In the first inning, the Hokies executed a first-and-third steal play to perfection. Catcher Zoe Yaeger, standing on first base, ran halfway toward second base to force a throw. Third baseman Jordan Lynch ran home before the Tigers (25-14, 7-7 ACC) could tag Yaeger, meaning Tech reached the scoreboard first.
In the second inning, Hokies shortstop Annika Rohs lasered a line drive toward Clemson shortstop Kiley Channell. Channell dove and put her glove on the ball, but couldn’t convert the catch, and pinch runner Lily Pallante ran home from second. The third inning brought more of a cushion; first baseman Michelle Chatfield slammed a home run 224 feet over the left-field fence, scoring herself, Yaeger and Abromavage.
Then came Pipkins’ and Aldridge’s bombs, giving Tech a five-run lead in the fifth. Once Aldridge homered, Clemson head coach John Rittman substituted two new pitchers in Lexie Hames and Maddie Johnson, neither of whom could hit the strike zone. They combined to throw four of their 24 pitches for strikes.
The Tigers walked three straight batters, abbreviated by a two-RBI double from Tech center fielder Addison Foster. Lynch walked to load the bases once again, then Abromavage drew her own walk to end the game.
Altogether, Virginia Tech finished the game with eight walks. Abromavage and second baseman Rachel Castine both walked twice.
“We just hunt the pitch that we’re looking to hit hard,” D’Amour said. “If it’s not there, we just take it.”
After facing Tigers ace Sierra Maness on Thursday, Virginia Tech saw Boston College transfer Abby Dunning, who was tagged with the loss in 2024 when the Hokies scored 12 runs in an inning against the Eagles, capped by a walk-off homer from Cori McMillan. Dunning held Tech in check for much of her 2 ⅓ frames of work on Friday, but eventually gave up five runs and six hits.
Though the Hokies entered the weekend winners of nine straight games and 23 of their last 25, it was not reasonable to expect them to run the table. It’s a wonky sport where college teams play 50-plus games. Enough fluky things happen that they were going to lose at some point — and they did on Thursday.
However, they regrouped, pushed back and earned a win on Friday against last season’s ACC champion. Plus, Virginia Tech will have a chance to win the series on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET (ACC Network).
“If we play our game and stick to our plan, then good things will happen,” Aldridge said. “We hit a lot of balls hard yesterday; they just didn’t seem to find the holes. Today, they ended up falling, which ended up helping us win.”
Box Score: No. 12 Virginia Tech 9, Clemson 1 (5 innings)
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