CHARLOTTESVILLE — Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour stood on the concourse of Palmer Park on Thursday after his team defeated No. 6 seed Virginia, setting up a semifinal matchup between the No. 3 seed Hokies and No. 2 seed Duke.
“Duke is good,” D’Amour said.
He continued without hesitation.
“We’re good.”
The Hokies (46-9) proved it with their 5-0 win in the latter semifinal of the ACC Tournament on Friday. They advanced past the Blue Devils (39-14) to face No. 1 seed Florida State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
“We played well against a team that’s picked to host in regionals this year,” D’Amour said after the semifinal. “We played well and just boosted our résumé.”
Hokies arm Bree Carrico saw the highest-leverage innings of her life. The ACC Freshman of the Year gave up a leadoff single to Blue Devils center fielder D’Auna Jennings. Then, Duke’s next hit came in the sixth inning — though she walked two batters and hit two more during that span.
Carrico struck out the side in the second inning. She worked around a bases-loaded jam — via a walk, error and hit-by-pitch — in the third. The fourth inning entailed a two-out hit-by-pitch, but the next batter popped up to Tech shortstop Annika Rohs. Duke went three up, three down in the fifth through two lineouts and a flyout.
The sixth inning was when Carrico found herself in some trouble. She grabbed the first two outs from a flyout to right field, a single and a fielder’s choice. Then, Duke pitcher/designated player KK Mathis singled.
Carrico trailed 2-0 in the count to Blue Devils catcher Gabriella Shadek when she experienced what she called forearm tightness — and D’Amour removed her for Emma Mazzarone, who threw 128 pitches the night before.
“[The forearm tightness was] nothing too big,” Carrico said. “Just gonna get treatment on it.”
Both Carrico and D’Amour said they expect her to be available for the championship game.
Mazzarone entered with Shadek ahead in the count and walked her, loading the bases. But pinch hitter Kairi Rodriguez popped up to Rohs. Inning over. Then, Mazzarone accrued three strikeouts in the seventh to end the game.
Dating back to the quarterfinal, Mazzarone struck out 17 hitters across two games in less than a day.
“We’re at the point of the season now where you should be in pitching shape,” D’Amour said. “We came in today and [she threw 128] pitches yesterday. Go play. These games matter, so we’re gonna run the tank dry until we can’t do it anymore.”
During its first four games at Palmer Park this season, Virginia Tech didn’t clear the fence. Tech first baseman Michelle Chatfield said it’s hard to hit there, just because the fences are a little deeper than at the average ballpark. The Hokies slammed four on Friday.
Chatfield led the way. In the top of the first inning, Tech’s three-hole hitter saw center fielder Addison Foster fly out to right field and third baseman Jordan Lynch ground out. Yet, she stepped into the batter’s box and mashed her 14th blast of the season, which traveled 272 feet to the top of the makeshift bleachers past left-center field.
“I think just adjusting after the first two batters [helped]. You could see the first two batters were ahead of it, and they said [the pitches are] slower than you think,” Chatfield said. “So, just kind of waiting on it and trying to go center [field] — rather than pulling everything. And I think that helped.”
Hokies left fielder Nora Abromavage followed with a 239-foot bomb that left her bat with an 80 mph exit velocity, making the score 2-0. Second baseman Rachel Castine homered in the sixth inning and added another insurance run. In the seventh, designated player Kylie Aldridge notched a two-run tank of her own, bringing around herself and Lynch to build the decisive 5-0 advantage.
The players call themselves “the dogs.” Catcher Zoe Yaeger, who the team trusts with the Bluetooth speaker, cranks Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out” as the team walks off the bus before games. And ahead of Thursday’s game, some of the players drank most of a gallon jug of water, then filled it with other liquids and called it “dog juice.”
Chatfield said she didn’t know who started the tradition and didn’t disclose what liquids were in the jug, but it prompted the team’s new dugout celebration.
“You score, then you get to take a swig of the dog juice,” Chatfield said.
The dominant pitching, home runs and dog juice culminated in Virginia Tech’s first ACC Tournament title game appearance since 2012 — and the first of D’Amour’s time in Blacksburg. The Hokies have not won the conference tournament since 2008, when Angela Tincher struck out 14 batters against NC State in the championship game, en route to the program’s only Women’s College World Series appearance.
The Seminoles are sitting in Tech’s way. They have lost the last two conference title games and won the two before that.
“They’re the gold standard in our league and they have been for 25 years,” D’Amour said. “They’re coached well; they pitch well. All aspects of the game, they’re really good. It’ll be a good challenge for us.”
D’Amour’s thoughts there were his second instinct. The first thing to cross his mind when prompted about Florida State:
“They’re good.”
Sound familiar?
Box Score: No. 16 Virginia Tech 5, No. 12 Duke 0