No. 18 Virginia Tech returned home Tuesday night needing a solid, confidence-boosting performance before taking on No. 5 Florida State this weekend. The Hokies got it in the form of a 12-1 run-rule win over Radford.
Everything seemed to click for Tech. It hammered out 11 hits, including three home runs, played errorless defense in the field and the pitching staff limited the Highlanders to three hits while striking out eight.
The game continued a recent pattern of Tech’s domination over Radford. Since Pete D’Amour was hired as the Virginia Tech coach, the Hokies are 5-0 against the Highlanders with all five games ending after five innings due to run-rule margins by VT (10-0, 8-0, 11-1, 9-1 and 12-1).
After Radford took an early 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Cori McMillen in the top of the first, the Hokies struck back quickly in the bottom of the inning. A Kelsey Brown single and walks to Cameron Fagan and Addy Greene set the stage for a grand slam by Emma Ritter.
The VT first-inning onslaught continued with a single by Jayme Bailey and a double by Bre Peck before the school’s career RBI leader Kelsey Bennett added two more to her total with a bases-clearing double.
In the second, Ritter drove in her fifth run of the game before Fagan pushed the game into run-rule territory with a three-run blast in the third.
Peck capped off the scoring in the fourth with a solo home run, her 14th of the season. The sophomore raised eyebrows in the top of the inning when she took the field behind the plate and caught an inning, even snagging a foul tip by Radford’s Laura Thompson.
“Bre has caught some bullpens the last few weeks,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the game. “I felt like tonight was a chance to see what she could do in a game. I don’t know if we’ll see her back there again this year, but you never know.”
In the circle, D’Amour used all-three of his primary hurlers with Lyndsey Grein getting the start and going two innings. Molly Jacobson pitched the next two frames and Emma Lemley closed out the contest with three strikeouts in the fifth. Combined, they limited Radford to three hits, walked none and struck out eight.
“We took care of business in all aspects tonight,” D’Amour said. “My message was brief after the game. ‘We have FSU coming in this weekend and we expect to look them in the eye. They won’t overlook us and they’ll be ready, but we’re seen as the underdogs for sure.’ We’ll have a good practice tomorrow and look forward to Thursday evening.”
Florida State (36-8) picked up a win of its own on Tuesday night with a 7-2 victory over Stetson. It was the Seminoles’ 15th victory in their last 17 games. They are 13-2 in the ACC, dropping games to Duke in March and Virginia on April 15. Included in their conference wins was a sweep of then-No. 4 Clemson.
Florida State’s record is even more impressive when considering the caliber of competition it faced. The Seminoles have one loss to No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 UCLA and two defeats to No. 3 Oklahoma State (along with one win).
While they’re solid offensively (.305 batting average, 6.1 runs/game), their biggest advantage over the Hokies is their pitching. FSU has a team ERA of 1.69, led by senior Kathryn Sandercock (15-3, 1.06 ERA, 5 saves), one of the best pitchers in the country. However, Virginia Tech scored 10 earned runs off of her last year in the 15 innings that she pitched.
Florida State also has a depth advantage in the circle with five players who have thrown 17 or more innings this season. Head coach Lonni Alameda, who is in her 15th season in Tallahassee, does not hesitate to change pitchers multiple times during a game.
On the base path, the Seminoles lead the ACC in stolen bags with 98 thefts in 109 chances. Four players have over 10 swipes each.
The series begins on Thursday. Two of the contests will be nationally televised:
Thursday, April 20, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Friday, April 21, 6 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra
Saturday, April 22, 2 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Here’s a quick tale of the tape:
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Stats look pretty even. Pitching is definite advantage for state. Tech will have to hit well to have a chance. If the bats go silent, we’re gonna be hurting. Sure be nice to take 2 of 3, but 1 of 3 would keep us in the hunt. Will be hard to overcome if we get swept. Go Hokies!
Great job of taking care of business by the Hokies – need a big effort to beat FSU, but to be the best you have to beat the best. Excellent opportunity to get some coverage on the national broadcasts.