Three hours and two minutes. That was how long it took to get through Friday night’s marathon between No. 5 Florida State and No. 18 Virginia Tech, which the Seminoles took 6-3.
Even more surprising was the fact that there were no lengthy delays, the game did not go to extra innings and it was a fairly low-scoring affair.
Entering the seventh inning, the score was just 3-2, in favor of the Hokies (33-14, 12-8 ACC). But just three outs away from victory, they could not get the job done, surrendering four runs to the Noles (38-8, 15-2 ACC) in a three-run defeat that stunned the Virginia Tech crowd and gave Florida State the series.
Tech’s performance Thursday night showed it could compete with FSU if it just tightened up some loose screws. On Friday night, Tech did exactly that.
After failing to score until the sixth inning in Game 1, the Hokies got things going early offensively, rattling Ali DuBois to start the game. Kelsey Brown laid down a well-placed bunt to lead off, as she often does, before Cameron Fagan roped a double just inside the right field foul line that scored Brown.
The Hokies were quickly up 1-0 but showed no signs of slowing down. Addy Greene drew a four-pitch walk, followed by Jayme Bailey putting on a show at the plate, facing 14 pitches and fouling off eight consecutive 2-2 pitches. She eventually fouled out, but she tired out DuBois in the process.
DuBois struck out Bre Peck but walked Emma Ritter to load the bases. With Rachel Castine up to bat, the outfielders put on a heavy shift to the left, which did the trick. Castine cranked one straight to Kaley Mudge hugging the left field foul line.
DuBois had to put up 39 pitches just to get through the first inning.
Meanwhile, Lyndsey Grein began her Friday night campaign on the right foot with a sharp first inning, and a double play in the second implied that there would be another swift frame in store.
However, back-to-back walks and a single from Josie Muffley that just squeaked under Fagan’s glove evened the score at one. Yet, Grein remained calm and stranded the two runners in scoring position.
Walks drawn by Kylie Aldridge and Fagan which sandwiched a bunt by Brown back to DuBois loaded the bases once more for Tech, and with just one out on the board and 59 pitches to her name, DuBois was given the hook for Makenna Reid (10-0).
Reid got her fourth save on Thursday, but had more work ahead of her given the situation she entered into.
While she conceded a sac fly to Greene that put the Hokies back up, 2-1, she got Bailey to fly out, escaping the second with minimal damage and stranding two more Tech runners.
After a quiet third and fourth inning, FSU struck with quickness and ferocity. Kaley Mudge and Kalei Harding hit back-to-back well-placed doubles to even the game up at two in the fifth.
Much like the second inning, however, Tech negated Florida State’s accomplishments quickly.
There was a conscious effort to swing early and often. While Bailey lifted a sky-high pop up to Devyn Flaherty, Peck notched a single through the right side, before Ritter went the other way and drew an error from Harding. With two on, Castine tried to find a gap, but ended up hitting into what looked like a double play.
Instead, some chaos ensued.
Here's some video of the Hokies go-ahead play in the 5th pic.twitter.com/mPHr9oGufn
— Ishan Lamba (@IshanLamba703) April 22, 2023
With Tech still holding onto its lead and Grein starting to get worn out, Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour turned to his trusty ace, Emma Lemley (19-8).
Lemley did her trouble, retiring the visitors in order, while the Hokies just recorded a Fagan bunt single in the bottom of the sixth.
Entering the final frame, it didn’t seem like much could go wrong for the Hokies. But things went bad. Fast.
Michaela Edenfield drew a lead off walk and was replaced by Amaya Ross, whose swiftness burned Tech the night before. She did it yet again, stealing second on her first pitch in the game and taking third off an errant throw from Aldridge, who otherwise had a stellar night defensively.
With the tying run now 60 feet away and with nobody out, the heat was really on Lemley. Muffley put a ball in play towards Castine, and she made the natural choice, throwing home. But Ross was simply too speedy, beating out the throw and tying the game up at three.
Things went from bad to worse after Muffley got into scoring position off a wild pitch and scored on a single up the middle from Flaherty. And Florida State kept its foot on the gas with a 4-3 lead and no outs.
Mudge laid a grounder down to Kelsey Bennett, who took her eye off the ball and fumbled it, allowing the baserunner. A single by Harding doubled the lead and ended Lemley’s tumultuous stay.
Grein returned with runners on first and second and got two fly outs to Brown before giving up a single that scored Mudge, pushing the score to 6-3, where it would remain after FSU’s final out. Kathryn Sandercock entered for the Seminoles and closed the door on the Hokies with a 1-2-3 frame.
Coming as close as they had to a top-five victory, the team and crowd alike were certainly in a state of shock at how the game escaped the Hokies so quickly.
“We didn’t play clean, and it felt like we thought the game was in hand and it wasn’t,” D’Amour said after the game, not immune to the gloomy mood that had befallen the home fans.
Like Game 1 of the series, the Hokies left runners on base (nine) and committed costly errors (three). As D’Amour had suggested before, plays just needed to be made.
Despite the sour taste left in Tech fans’ mouths, there was still a notable positive in Friday’s game: Grein’s development. Though she had solid outings throughout the season, she often struggled closing out innings with runners on base, particularly in scoring position. But on Friday, she held her nerve brilliantly and pitched with confidence, a sentiment D’Amour echoed.
“I thought [Grein] did great,” D’Amour told reporters afterwards. “I think she was laboring a little bit in the fifth, that’s why I made the switch, but that was probably the best outing she’s had all year”
Grein was chipper as well about how she played and commended her teammates for stepping up and making big plays throughout the game.
Even though the first two results did not go the way of the Hokies, Grein still emphasized that there is still immense confidence in their locker room to be able to pull off the upset.
“We are more than capable,” she said.
Tech will try to salvage the series in the dead rubber match on Saturday. First pitch was pushed back to 4 p.m. ET due to rain in the area.
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I did not see the play but the play is to get the batter out and not the tying run at the plate. That would keep the go ahead run from reaching base.
Not able to hunt with the big dogs. Fading fast. Pitching not getting it done and not able to close games. Out of the rankings and probably out of the ncaa playoffs. Oh well, maybe next year.
Lemley has fallen off her game lately
And they’re not salvaging the series Sat, they’re trying to avoid the sweep
Sorry Ishan but that was NOT an errant throw on Aldridge. That was an error on Castine
I would agree that it was an error on Castine. I only said errant throw because it was scored as an error on Aldridge
Aldridge, in my opinion, had a phenomenal night behind the plate, and definitely saved a run early in the game