No. 21 Virginia Tech got its name in the record book Tuesday night in Huntington, W.Va., but not in the way it would have preferred. The Hokies became Marshall’s first top 25 win at home in program history as they fell to the Thundering Herd 2-1.
It was the fourth loss in a row for Tech (33-16) and the seventh defeat in their last nine games.
“We’re in a little funk right now, no question,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the game. “It feels like we’re a couple swings away and a couple of pitches away from being 3-1 our last 4 games.”
On Tuesday, the swings didn’t come at the right times. Marshall (39-7) starter Sydney Nester (23-5) started the game by walking Kelsey Brown and Cameron Fagan, and it looked like the Hokies might strike early. However, Addy Greene struck out, Jayme Bailey flew out to center and Emma Ritter grounded out to short to end the threat.
The Hokies got two runners on base again in the third, but Bailey’s flyout ended the inning. In the fourth, Ritter and Bre Peck led off with singles, but Nester got Kelsey Bennett to ground into a double play to extinguish Tech’s hopes once again.
The Hokies finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, courtesy of a Kylie Aldridge solo home run, her fourth of the year. It was also Aldridge’s second hit of the game — she was the only Virginia Tech player with multiple hits in the contest.
Outta here 🫡@kyliealdridgeee takes one deep to cut into the lead! pic.twitter.com/bbxNFbKlfG
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) April 25, 2023
In the circle, Emma Lemley (19-10) looked like her old self, pitching six innings and limiting Marshall to five hits. She walked just a single batter and struck out nine, five of them consecutively in the fifth and sixth innings.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Lemley said after the game.
Unfortunately, one of the five hits was Autumn Owens’ 17th home run of the year in the first inning — a two-run shot that gave Marshall all of the runs it needed to pull the upset. Lemley yielded just two hits after the first frame.
“Emma made a good pitch today to their best hitter and the kid put a good swing on it,” D’Amour said. “For the most part, she threw well. Our defense was cleaner today, too, which was good to see. We’re still a dangerous team; we just have to believe it.”
Next up for the Hokies is a weekend series with No. 6 Clemson (44-5, 17-4 ACC), who visits Tech Softball Park on Friday for a three-game weekend series.
Box Score: Marshall 2, No. 21 Virginia Tech 1
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