No. 20 Virginia Tech Softball Hosts Notre Dame To Open ACC Play

After a solid first three weeks to the season, No. 20 Virginia Tech (12-3-1) opens ACC play at Tech Softball Park on Friday with a three-game series against Notre Dame (8-5). All three games will be televised on ACC Network Extra.

Offensively, the Hokies have been on fire so far this season. They’re averaging 7.5 runs per game (including two home runs per game) while hitting .351 as a team. And that’s without leading hitter Rachel Castine, has 18 RBI and is tied for the home run lead with five despite playing in just eight games. The Hokies are also leading the ACC in fielding defense (.983), having committed only seven errors.

“After the first three weeks, we have the ability to score a lot of runs and play exceptional defense,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “Our pitching has steadily improved. We’re in a good spot going into the weekend. We’re not really surprised with the results thus far. We knew coming into the season that we had the potential to play well against anybody.”

Seven Tech starters are hitting .319 or better, led by seniors Addy Greene (.442 average, 4 HRs, 14 RBI), Emma Ritter (.382 average, 4 HRs, 11-11 in stolen bases) and Cameron Fagan (.344 average, 12 RBI, 5-5 SBs), along with junior Bre Peck (.319 average, 2 HRs).

But it’s the new faces that have been a pleasant surprise for the Hokies. Freshman Michelle Chatfield is hitting .394 with five homers and while fellow freshman Emily LeGette is hitting .370 and has handled 83 chances at first base flawlessly.

Zoe Yaeger has started seven games behind the plate and is hitting .500 (10-for-20) and hit her first two home runs of the season on Sunday. Annika Rohs has been flawless filling in at shortstop after Castine’s injury and is hitting .278.

Radford transfer Cori McMillan (.344 average) started slow but went 8-for-15 last week with five home runs and a triple in addition to being walked five times.

In the circle, freshman Emma Mazzarone leads the team in ERA (2.03) and Louisville transfer Cassie Grizzard is 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA.

“The newcomers have proven themselves,” D’Amour said. “We bring players into the program because we think they can play. Talent is easy for everyone to see. How players deal with adversity isn’t as evident until they get on the field against outside competition. The newcomers have adjusted well to that.”

Sophomore Lyndsey Grein has been impressive in several starts and leads the team in strikeouts with 44 in 28 innings and has recorded two saves. Junior Emma Lemley looked like her old self in Georgia last weekend, allowing three runs in 12 ⅔ innings and striking out 14.

Notre Dame comes to Blacksburg with an overall record of 8-5. Four of those losses were to ranked teams: No. 13 Utah (9-3), No. 20 Mississippi State (7-4), No. 22 Baylor (10-9) and No. 23 Oregon (8-2). It also lost to South Alabama 8-1 on opening day of the season.

The Irish are strong offensively, averaging over five runs per game with a team batting average of .325. They’ve only hit five home runs this season.

Junior Emily Tran transitioned from pinch runner to starter and leads the Irish in hitting with a .536 average. She usually bats ninth, giving the Irish a second lead-off hitter in the lineup. Senior catcher Carlli Kloss, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, is hitting .444 and often hits first. She leads the Irish in stolen bases this year with five (out of six attempts) and has 25 thefts in her career.

Senior first baseman, preseason All-American and three-time First team All-ACC performer Karina Gaskins leads the Irish in on-base percentage (.640), partially due to the 17 walks she has drawn this season. Gaskins was the 2022 ACC Player of the Year. She is currently hitting .419 and generally bats third.

Senior Cassidy Grimm, who has played in 115 games in her Notre Dame career, is hitting .385. Freshman Addison Amaral is .317 and leads the team in home runs with three. Sophomore Mickey Winchell (.310) can usually be found batting second in the lineup.

Notre Dame ranks 11th in the ACC in pitching with a staff ERA of 3.74. Payton Tidd and her 74 career wins are gone, leaving sophomore Micaela Kastor (4-1, 3.12 ERA) and junior Micaela Becker (4-1, 3.12 ERA) as the veterans in the circle for the Irish. Both started 12 games last season and they each have five starts to their name this year.

Graduate student Alexis Laudenslager (4-1, 3.94 ERA) transferred to Notre Dame from Princeton and leads the team in starts this season with six. She was a two-time Ivy League Pitcher of the Year and struck out 179 batters last season while compiling an ERA of 2.13. All of the squad’s pitchers are right-handed.

Deanna Gumpf is in her 23rd season as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. She’s led them to 21 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and has won over 850 games at the school.

Notre Dame has been a frustrating opponent for Virginia Tech. The Irish lead the all-time series 31-9 and have won 20 of the last 23 meetings with the Hokies.

“We need to continue to play like we have the last three weeks,” D’Amour said. “Our emphasis has been really simple: We need to play catch, throw strikes and make Notre Dame’s pitchers throw us strikes. Nothing about how we’ll approach Notre Dame will be different than how we’d approach any other game. They have a lot of talent, but so do we.

“If we get caught up in past history with them, we’ll be worrying about that and not concerned with what we can control. If we handle those three aspects, we’ll put ourselves in a position to have a good weekend.”

Here is the tale of the tape: