No. 11 Virginia Tech rode the right arm of Emma Lemley and the long ball to a 4-1 win over the North Carolina on Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill.
Lemley scattered six hits and struck out 10 batters on the way to her 11th win of the season. She made clutch pitches when needed, stranding six UNC (8-14, 0-1) baserunners – two of them on third base.
The Hokies (18-4, 4-0), meanwhile, continued their nation leading home run pace, blasting three more round trippers to bump their season total to 48.
Early on, it was the Bre Peck show as the sophomore kept the game scoreless in the third by throwing out a Tar Heel baserunner at the plate from her perch in center field. She promptly followed that up offensively, hitting a solo home run over the right field fence in the next inning to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead.
The Tar Heels tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run by Abby Settlemyre. After that, the contest remained deadlocked until the sixth when Tech freshman Emma Jackson regained the lead with a solo home run over the center field fence. Emma Ritter followed that up in the seventh inning with a two-run monster blast over the scoreboard to give the Hokies some insurance runs.
“That was a good win for us tonight,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “UNC is much better than their record indicates. They’ve played some really close games this year and have played some really good teams. Emma got strikeouts when she needed them and our defense made the majority of the plays.
“Offensively, we made three swings count. That’s what we’re trying to preach as an offense. Get on time and swing hard. If we happen to get it in the air, we have a chance to score runs with one swing.”
The series continues on Saturday with games at 2 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra) and 6 p.m. ET (ACC Network).
“We have a challenging day tomorrow,” D’Amour said. “We’ll have to stay committed for all 14 innings.”
Box Score: No. 11 Virginia Tech 4, North Carolina 1
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Emma and the Hokies got UNC again in the late game today 3-1, to win the weekend series
The highlight of Peck’s throwout at home…it really looked like the runner at 2nd left early?
I remember Bre playing 3rd base last year and way overthrowing first base for an out…but what an arm! So yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me at all her picking someone from center field…good position for her.
I’m only able to catch some or any of this weekend’s games. So thank you very much for your efforts. I didn’t know that Bre got the pick from center field. Was that the last since Darby Trull?