How substantial was No. 12 Virginia Tech’s 10-5 win over Clemson on Saturday to secure a series win over last season’s ACC champion? That answer depends on who you ask.
“We’re playing well,” Hokies head coach Pete D’Amour said. “We don’t see jerseys, really. So, we’re going to enjoy the win tonight and get ready for Tuesday.”
“I think we just kind of wipe it and continue to do what we do,” pitcher Emma Mazzarone said. “Not really thinking too far ahead, but Virginia this weekend — we’re all looking forward to it. But we’ve got Radford first, so that’s what we’re thinking about.”
“It’s really big, especially going into next weekend,” shortstop Annika Rohs said. “It was good to take the series win and not let Game 1 get to us at all.”
Right, Game 1. It almost feels like a lifetime ago, since the Hokies (33-5, 9-3 ACC) stacked two wins against the Tigers (25-15, 7-8 ACC) since then. They hit balls hard against Clemson ace Sierra Maness on Thursday, but didn’t convert enough to win the first game of the set. On Saturday, they did.
“I think we really came out in Game 3 ready to play in the dog fight,” Rohs said. “We always come out and we’re like, ‘We know today [as the third game of the series] is going to be the dog fight game’ — and I think we came out and we really won that today.”
Mazzarone and Maness faced each other on Thursday, and Clemson was in control from the start of the series premiere. On Saturday, though, the roles were reversed. Tech grabbed three runs in the first inning, two in the second, one in the fourth and four in the fifth to build a secure lead.
The Hokies tagged Maness from the jump. Center fielder Addison Foster began the game with a single, then Maness hit third baseman Jordan Lynch with a pitch. Left fielder Nora Abromavage drew a walk to load the bases. Two batters later, first baseman Michelle Chatfield drove in Foster and Lynch with a single. Then designated player Kylie Aldridge knocked a sacrifice fly, bringing around Abromavage to make the score 3-0.
Clemson limited its deficit to one when third baseman Sarah Breaux knocked her second home run of the weekend in the top of the second. Then Lynch punched back with a 221-foot blast of her own. Virginia Tech led 5-2.
Rohs had hit one career home run entering Saturday. She doubled that total in the bottom of the fourth with a 236-foot solo shot that left her bat at 73 mph.
“I was due,” Rohs said. “It felt good and I was excited, and it was nice to see how excited my teammates were.”
The Tigers began to claw back and cut Tech’s lead to two in the fifth. Clemson left fielder Taylor Pipkins smacked a home run to lead off the frame, then Mazzarone got in some trouble. With runners on second and third and one out, D’Amour put Bree Carrico in the circle.
Tigers right fielder Macey Cintron grounded out, but center fielder Jamison Brockenbrough scored. Carrico escaped further damage when she struck out second baseman Marian Collins.
Virginia Tech finally knocked Maness out of the game when Abromavage slammed a leadoff homer in the sixth and made the score 7-4. Maness finished after four-plus innings by allowing seven runs, seven hits and a walk. Contrast that from her stint on Friday, when she went the distance and gave up just two runs.
“Today, we were more disciplined,” Rohs said. “I think in Game 1, we might have given her the pitches that she wanted us to swing at. With our discipline that we came with in Game 3, I think it really paid off.”
Aldridge then nuked a home run of her own 241 feet off Clemson reliever Abby Dunning. The senior faced Dunning in four games of her career, dating back to the arm’s time at Boston College. In those appearances, Aldridge went 5-for-8 with two home runs, two doubles and five RBI.
The rest of the game was essentially a formality. Foster drove in another run and Tigers catcher Corri Hicks doinked a homer off the left foul pole, à la Howie Kendrick, but the game was all but decided by that point.
Friday and Saturday’s efforts were no guarantee after the loss on Thursday. Clemson is a good team, though it sustained a sweep against No. 10 Florida State last weekend. Still, Virginia Tech showed resilience — which is crucial as the team advances through the remainder of its ACC slate and beyond.
“We’re 33-5, so nothing changed,” D’Amour said. “We lost on Thursday. It was a good game. Let’s just get back at it and play harder.”
Virginia Tech will travel north on I-81 and east on I-64 this weekend against a Virginia squad that is ranked 17th and is one of the strongest teams in the conference. Before then, the Hokies will travel in the opposite direction to Radford. The second edition of the Sharkey's Classic will take place on Tuesday at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+.