The grit and determination of this team makes it pretty dang special!!! The record book will show that the Hokies went into Raleigh this weekend and swept NC State by scores of 10-2, 3-0, and 10-0. However, I would argue that the mere scores do NOT tell the entire story of the weekend. Coach D’Amour doesn't speak about players’ medical issues, but he did comment that he was “proud of the effort and attitude” that they team displayed this weekend. Several of the players were kind enough to share some insights with me and it makes me prouder than ever to be a Hokie. Virginia Tech won the series opener on Friday 10-2, but that night a stomach bug hit some members of the team and coaching staff. One of the hardest hit was sophomore shortstop Annika Rohs who had to stay at the hotel Saturday with two of her teammates. Rohs shared that when she texted D’Amour to tell him that she couldn’t play, his response was “don’t worry, we have your back – it doesn’t take one, it takes the whole team.” “Just hearing him say that made me feel better,” said Rohs. “I knew that we still had a full team of 21 other girls and someone would be able to fill the spot and there wouldn’t be a problem. My teammates had my back.” At the ballpark, the Hokies vowed to win for their missing teammates. “When we found out that three of them wouldn’t be here, we said ‘let’s go out there and win it for them,” said junior catch Kylie Aldridge. “Sarah and Charlotte are so good in the dugout and Anni is great at shortstop so we just said let’s go out there and pick it up in the dugout and pick it up in the field for them.” “We knew we weren’t at 100% but our 80% is better than most teams’ 100%” said Cori McMillan. “We have each other backs so if someone is down, we’re going to pick it up for them….I have these girls’ backs and they have mine.” The Hokies toughed out a 3-0 win on Saturday, but that night, several more players (and a coach) became ill. Sophomore Michelle Charfield was one that had a particularly hard night – she described it as “pretty rough,” but she not only played Sunday, but also blasted a 3-run home run in the sixth to put the Hokies in run-rule territory. “The mindset was let’s get through two hours and we’ll be okay,” said Chatfield. “Suck it up for two hours, be a dawg, be good, and we’ll make it.” That attitude seemed to be reflected all across the roster. “Today (Sunday) we said, you’ve got two hours, said Aldridge. “Warm up, sit down, and give us two hours of whatever you’ve got.” “We’ve got that dawg mentality,” said senior pitcher Emma Lemley. “Don’t let anything get in our way. Everyone is doing a good job on just focusing on the present moment. So let’s just focus on the next two hours and feel bad after the game.” “We always say ‘give 100% of what you have’ and that’s what we did” said Chatfield. “There’s just a lot of fight for your teammates. It means a lot for everyone. It’s such a different atmosphere (on this team). Everyone is just so excited to be together and fight for your teammates and not for yourself. It’s super fun every day.” We just did it for each other this weekend,” said McMillan. “We knew we might have some players that weren’t able to play up to their standards, so we had to pick them up. Even our coaches – some of them didn’t feel well, but that’s okay. We have determination, we have grit, and we’re going to always fight for each other.” This Hokie team is pretty dang special!