No. 12 Virginia Tech softball showed its resilience on Saturday, salvaging a series split at No. 15 Alabama with an 8-3 win.
The Hokies’ win on Saturday was its first over the Crimson Tide in program history in eight attempts.
“We went toe-to-toe with a really good team in a tough environment,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline.
The Hokies (25-5-1) built a 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning with right fielder Cori McMillan’s solo home run and sacrifice fly, along with an RBI groundout from third baseman Bre Peck. Starting pitcher Lyndsey Grein threw six shutout innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out six batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, though, the game began to unravel for Tech. D’Amour replaced Grein — who had thrown 90 pitches — with freshman Emma Mazzarone, who allowed a hit on five pitches. Then D’Amour replaced her with Emma Lemley.
Tech’s veteran, who pitched the duration in the first game on Friday, allowed a single, a walk and a triple to tie the game at three apiece. Although the Crimson Tide’s bats were silent all afternoon, it suddenly had shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan on third base as the winning run. But when first baseman Abby Duchscherer struck out on a full count, Alabama (25-6) fell short of a walk-off win.
“Emma and Lyndsey were awesome this weekend,” D’Amour said. “I felt like they were both in control every inning they were out there.”
Tech burst into the lead in extra innings. Fagan scored left fielder Addy Greene and center fielder Emma Ritter on a single. Then Peck scored on a wild pitch. And for good measure, first baseman Michelle Chatfield — the ACC’s leader in home runs — hit a two-run homer deep into left field.
“The mood was fine after the seventh,” D’Amour said. “It was almost like the hitters were eager to have the chance to score more runs.”
Fagan was 4-for-5 on Sunday, tying her career-high for hits in a game. She and Greene each reached base four times, igniting an offense that only notched five hits on Friday.
The Crimson Tide enlisted four arms in eight innings: Jocelyn Briski, Kayla Beaver, Alea Johnson and Jaala Torrence. They combined to allow 14 hits and four walks while striking out two.
The difference between Friday and Saturday was night and day for Tech’s bats. On Friday, the Hokies didn’t score for the first time since April 11, 2023, against No. 7 Tennessee. On Saturday, they scored at least eight runs — the fifth time this week they accomplished that. Achieving a high run total against a top-15 team will help the team build more confidence going into the rest of the schedule.
The Hokies’ gauntlet of difficult opponents will continue. Although they won’t play a midweek game after returning from Tuscaloosa, they will continue their ACC schedule in Durham against No. 4 Duke on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Box Score: No. 12 Virginia Tech 8, No. 15 Alabama 3 (8 innings)
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While I am sure that Peck would have liked to hit more in the two games, the play she made on the bunt in the 7th inning essentially kept UA from walking off in that inning. Bre is an exceptional athlete. I can see her making some plays that aren’t being made in the outfield. And her third base play this year has been sensational. Unfortunately, she can only play one position. I suspect she would make a good shortstop as well. No matter how difficult the plays are at third, her throws have been near perfect. I hope she gets recognized by the league for her defense.
Great comeback win after letting bama tie it up. Hope they can continue their great play as they take on duke. Taking 2 of 3 would really be nice.