No. 21 Virginia Tech ended the regular season Wednesday night on a positive note, defeating Liberty 7-5 in Lynchburg.
Combined with a 9-5 victory in March in Blacksburg, it gave the Hokies (36-17) a sweep of the Flames (34-18) this season. It was Tech’s fourth straight win in the series.
“We had a good night against a regional team in a regional-type atmosphere,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline after the win. “Our at bats got better as the game went on and we made plays when we needed to, and we competed hard all night. We’ve got a couple of things we need to get better at, but overall, I like how we’re trending.”
Liberty jumped on the Hokies early via Rachel Roupe’s two-run home run off Hokie starter Emma Lemley in the first inning. Addy Greene cut the Flames lead in half in the third, blasting a solo shot of her own to right center field. It was Greene’s 12th home run of the season and her second against Liberty.
In the bottom of the inning, Caroline Hudson stretched the Liberty lead back to two runs with an RBI double, but Kylie Aldridge tied the game in the fifth with her fifth home run of the season.
Aldridge seems to be finding her groove late in the season. In her last six games, she’s hit .462 with two home runs.
“Kylie was arguably our best hitter in the fall,” D’Amour said. “Sometimes it takes a little while for it to ‘click’ as a freshman. She’s stuck with it and the results are showing.”
With the score tied, D’Amour brought in freshman Lyndsey Grein in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Hokies’ defense failed her with an error leading to two unearned runs for Liberty.
However, down 5-3, Virginia Tech responded once again. A single by Emma Ritter and a double by Bre Peck put two runners in scoring position in the top of the sixth. Madison Hanson singled to score one run and a Rachel Castine sacrifice fly scored the other, tying the game at five.
Grein kept the Flames scoreless in the sixth and the Hokies took their only lead of the game in the seventh. Cameron Fagan led off with a single and Greene walked. Ritter’s ground ball to the pitcher led to Fagan being forced out at third, but senior Morgan Overaitis delivered a clutch two-out double to plate both Green and Ritter, giving Tech a 7-5 cushion.
It was the second time that Overaitis has delivered in a pinch-hit role in the last four games. Her success doesn’t surprise her coach.
“Morgan is a veteran hitter,” D’Amour said. “She doesn’t let pressure get to her. She was perfect for the situation tonight.”
Grein picked up her ninth win of the year, pitching three innings and not giving up an earned run. She struck out three.
The Hokies are now off to prepare for exams. Their next game is scheduled at the ACC tournament next week in South Bend, Ind. The Hokies are locked into the bracket as the No. 5 seed, though the rest of the field is in flux due to games over the weekend. Play for Virginia Tech begins on Thursday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. ET against either Clemson or Louisville.
Box Score: No. 21 Virginia Tech 7, Liberty 5
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Nice article Chip. Great to see the contributions from the freshmen (now nearly sophomores). These late season wins over good teams should give us confidence going into postseason tournament time.
Thank goodness we took care of business versus Liberty. Did not need another loss to them. Doesn’t matter which sport.
Certainly hate losing to them, but having a good opponent at Liberty is a good thing, easy day trip to play a competitive team year in and year out benefits VT.
So in conclusion for the season… good team not a great team? I picked the FSU series to come down and watch and…. I don’t know what to think. FSU is clearly “a great team” so maybe that was to be expected. Otoh, Grein held her own for five innings against them, so a nice positive progression there. but on the other other hand “What’s up with Lemley”? I just feel like she’s trying to throw to hard. Pete’s comments here were encouraging but still “we beat a team we should beat.”
Anyway, looking forward to NCAAs. Sure, the ACC comes before that, but as mentioned that’s kind of a crap shoot even for good teams. Heck, VT beat Cagle would be an example of “you never know.” Good luck, maybe a few days off will clear heads or whatever and we’ll see some fresh play.