As Virginia Tech center fielder Emma Ritter swung across a pitch at her shoulders, launching the ball high into the Blacksburg night sky, the 1,000 fans in attendance froze, waiting to see if it had the yards to go the distance.
The game hung in the balance.
But as the Hokies fans leapt up in anticipation of a potential walkoff grand slam, that euphoria was usurped by the visiting Florida State fans, who saw the ball fall safely into the glove of the running Autumn Belviy, a few feet inside the right centerfield wall.
That catch sealed a nervy 4-1 win for the No. 5 Seminoles (37-8, 26-2 ACC), taking down No. 18 Virginia Tech (33-13, 12-7 ACC) on a night of “almosts.”
Given Tech’s struggles as of late, both in-conference and against ranked opponents, this weekend’s series sparked some fear for the Blacksburg faithful.
Those doubts were put to rest by Emma Lemley’s (19-7) performance on Thursday night.
“I thought it was the best she’s thrown in a month,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour said after the game. “[If] she throws like that, we’ve got a shot the rest of the year.”
She certainly looked a lot more like the Lemley fans were used to last season, commanding the circle with confidence and coolness under pressure.
Even as she contended with four runners getting into scoring positions in the first two innings, partially due to some fielding errors, just one unearned run scored off a poor throw from Addy Greene in those frames, and Lemley stranded all four. She also held a fifth runner in the third and went 1-2-3 in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Tech had opportunities offensively, but much like Lemley, Kathryn Sandercock (16-3) knew how to slam the door shut.
Kelsey Brown took advantage of an error and Greene worked an 11-pitch walk to give the Hokies two base runners with one out in the first. Ritter advanced them both off her groundout, but Jayme Bailey could do no better, grounding out back to Sandercock.
The next three innings didn’t fare much better for the Hokies. While they managed a pair of singles in the third, it never felt too threatening for the ‘Noles. Sandercock also managed a couple 1-2-3 innings of her own, creating a trio of flyouts in the second and three straight groundouts in the fourth.
With the game still on a knife’s edge entering the back half of the game, FSU broke open the game in the top of the fifth. Following Kaley Mudge’s single, the Seminoles tripled their lead off consecutive doubles from Kalei Harding and Mack Leonard, putting them ahead 3-0.
The Hokies were again retired in order and Florida State added yet another run in the sixth off an erroneous throw by Ritter.
Trailing 4-0, Tech had the heart of its lineup ahead to spark the rally. Cameron Fagan and Greene did exactly that with back-to-back singles. Although Ritter couldn’t move the needle, popping it in the infield, Bailey singled up the middle to load the bases.
The electricity of the crowd felt palpable as Bre Peck, the team’s leading home-run hitter, was due up to bat. As she dug in, she fouled off a few pitches, trying to find her pitch. Though she never did, she got enough contact on a chest-high riser to score Fagan off a sacrifice fly.
With the tying run still at the plate and two outs, Kelsey Bennett had a chance to be the hero, but she was overeager and popped up the first pitch she saw.
After the Noles couldn’t add any more insurance runs in the top of the seventh, they turned to Makenna Reid to seal the deal. Striking out Rachel Castine and winning the 13-pitch battle over Grace Chavez meant the visitors had almost clinched victory.
But the Hokies continued to fight. A perfectly placed bunt by Brown to get on first was followed by a Fagan single through the right side. Greene managed to keep the hope alive by drawing a walk from a 1-2 count with two outs in the seventh.
With the bases once again loaded, Ritter now represented the winning run. And she was ready to go on her first pitch, but unfortunately for the Hokies, she didn’t have the extra juice to get it over the wall.
Though the Hokies were defeated, they battled until the end.
“That’s what you try to do, is get into those positions, hopefully you can string a few at-bats together,” D’Amour said about trying to spark a comeback. “We had our right kids up at the plate and it just didn’t fall.”
D’Amour had previously remarked after Tech’s loss to then-No. 7 Tennessee that his team’s 2-7 record at the time against ranked opponents didn’t concern him because the Hokies had been in every one of those games, aside from Tennessee, and they hadn’t been playing their best softball.
Even though the Hokies now have another loss to add to that record, Thursday’s performance is yet another game they were in until the very end, and it sparks hope that fixing a few small mistakes can bring them to victory on Friday night at 6 p.m. ET.
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Good article. The broadcasters mentioned that pitching coach Gillis is no longer with the program. What is the scoop on that story?
Why was Peck not playing center field ?
Peck hasn’t been playing in center field for the past month or so
It’s not a knock on her defensively, but the inclusion of Kelsey Brown, who’s hitting near .500 and is as strong a fielder as they come, meant Ritter moved to center
D’Amour didn’t want to lose Peck’s offense, so she’s the solution to the DP problem
I was watching live. Was hoping Emma would hit the walk -off Grand Slam but it was not to be. Oh man that would have been cool.
Good job, Ishan. Hopefully the ladies can get it turned around tonight!
Knowing they can win with better D and patience at the plate.