In one of the most remarkable comebacks in program history, No. 10 Virginia Tech shocked No. 9 Texas 6-5 in eight innings on Friday afternoon.
The Hokies trailed 5-2 when they came to bat in the top of the seventh in their second game of the day, but they weren’t worried. “We know we’re never out of it because of the way we hit,” Madison Hanson told Tech Sideline in Clearwater last week. Her teammates proved her to be prophetic.
After Bre Peck reached on an error, Kelsey Bennett blasted a two-run home run over the left field fence to make it a 5-4 game. Bennett, who homered off Texas starter Estelle Czech two years ago when she played for NC State, knew what she wanted to do when she came to the plate in the seventh.
“She [Czech] had jammed me up twice already so I was just trying to get the barrel on a pitch,” Bennett said.
Freshman Emma Jackson, making the first start of her Hokie career, followed with a solo blast to left to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
“I was just trying to hit the ball hard,” Jackson said afterwards, “but I knew if I didn’t, somebody behind me would.”
The Hokies took their only lead of the game, 6-5, when Cameron Fagan drove in Emma Ritter in the eighth. She started the inning on second under the international tiebreaker rules.
Emma Lemley (5-1) closed the door on the Longhorns in the bottom of the inning, striking out the final two hitters with the tying run on third base. The finish was sweet redemption for Lemley, who surrendered two home runs early in the game and found herself trailing 5-2 after three innings. She threw 121 pitches in the game and limited Texas to only two hits over the last five innings and struck out four.
“At the beginning of the game, I just wasn’t very fast,” Lemley said, “and I was not hitting my spots. I said, ‘Enough of this’ and just kept battling and I think I got better as the game went on.”
Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour was understandably pleased with the Hokies’ performance.
“I know I sound like a broken record,” he told Tech Sideline, “but we don’t ever think we’re out of a game. We just try to have good at bats and see what happens. … This was a good win for us. We just need to play cleaner tomorrow.”
Trailing 2-0, Grace Chavez got the Hokies on the board early with a pinch hit, two-run dinger to right field. It was her first home run of the season.
In the first game of the day for Virginia Tech, it jumped all over Abilene Christian, run-ruling the Wildcats 11-0 in five innings. Freshman Lyndsey Grein (3-0) threw a one-hitter as she recorded her first college shutout, striking out seven while walking only one.
Grein got plenty of offensive support. Freshman Teagan Thrunk went 2-for-2 and blasted a three-run home run while Addy Greene drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly and a double.
Jackson batted for the first time this season, recording a single and just missing a home run in her last at-bat. Her performance earned her a start at designated hitter against Texas. Fellow freshman Trinity Martin got the first hit of her college career.
D’Amour was pleased with his team’s overall performance on Friday and the way everyone stepped up when needed.
“Multiple people were ready when their number was called,” D’Amour said. “Emma Jackson, Grace (Chavez), Kelsey Brown, Trinity (Martin)… Today was a total team effort. Lyndsey [Grein] won with not her best ‘stuff’ and [Lemley] got better as the game went along.”
The Hokies are back in action on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. ET against Texas Southern followed by a rematch with Texas at 5 p.m. The Texas game will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
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I feel better now, I don’t expect them to win all the games against the top teams, but you need to win a few so you have a few shockers too to go with the nice tries (in Clearwater) OK, on with the season.
A come-from-behind win is good for the head.
The Texases are Exexes
Soon to be EXXXXes?