Virginia Tech Softball Hammers More Homers Against Radford

Playing in front of the home fans for the first time in almost two years, the 18/16th-ranked Virginia Tech softball team registered a pair of run-rule victories over Radford Wednesday, 11- 1 and 9-1, with both games ending in the fifth inning.

The Hokie bats picked up where they left off against NC State, registering 20 runs, 22 hits, and blasting eight homeruns.

“We almost forgot what it felt like to play at home,” said Hokie Coach Pete D’Amour. “I was interested to see how our players would react to our first home game in two years. The focus was there, which was good to see. We also were able to give some players some much needed rest. It’s a long season, and I think some of the players are starting to realize that. We’re not even halfway done.”

“Offensively, we’re starting to click. Our pitch selection was great today. We’re a handful when we swing at pitches in the strike zone.”

At the plate, the Hokies were paced by Kelsey Bennett, who was a combined 4-for-5 with two homeruns, a double, and five runs batted in. That continued her blistering pace that she started at NC State. During her last six games, Bennett is 10-for-16 (.625) with seven runs scored, six homers and 14 RBIs.

But she had plenty of support. Jayme Bailey had three hits on the day and drove in five runs with a homerun and a triple. Kelsey Brown and Darby Trull also had three hits on the day and drove in two runs. Blasting homeruns for the second time in the last three games were Cana Davis, Alexa Milius, and Morgan Overaitis.

Kayleigh Addington’s first career hit was a home run, and Grace Chavez walked off the Hokie win in game two with her fifth dinger of the year, both setting off huge celebrations in the Virginia Tech dugout. Overall, Virginia Tech hitters made the Highlander pitchers throw strikes, drawing seven walks and striking out just one time.

Here’s the video of the 8 Hokie homeruns.

In the circle, freshmen pitchers Ivy Rosenberry and Mackenzie Osborne both threw complete games in their respective starts, each striking out four and gaining valuable experience. But Coach D’Amour is challenging them to get even better, saying “our pitching needs to be sharper. It was almost as if we were on cruise control today. We need to work ahead and make better pitches at times.”

Defensively, the Hokies were a bit sloppy, committing four errors, but also turning three double plays.

“I’ll give our defense a pass today,” said A’mour. “But we need to clean it up a little bit this weekend.”

This weekend will be a four-game series with the Pittsburgh Panthers (8-11, 3-6 ACC), with single games scheduled on Friday and Sunday and a doubleheader on Saturday.

We have a preview of that series tomorrow.