It’s Liberty versus Virginia Tech, Round 2 at Tech Softball Park on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm and will be televised by the ACCNX.

Both teams come into the contest with momentum. The Hokies (32-12, 23-11 ACC) got back to their winning ways at Syracuse over the weekend, sweeping the Orange by scores of 8-0, 11-1, 3-0, and 8-1.

Liberty (37-12, 16-2 ASUN), meanwhile, clinched the #1 seed in the ASUN Northern Division by sweeping Kennesaw State 5-0, 1-0, and 3-1. That stretches the Flames winning streak to 16 games - gamesk in which they have outscored their opponents 82-13. That streak includes two wins over UVA, a win last week over VT, 9 shutouts, and 4 run-rule victories.

That win over Virginia Tech was especially painful for Hokie fans as they were two outs away from a 3-0 win when the Flames' Caroline Hudson (hitting .197 at the time) launched a 3 run homer off VT ace Keely Rochard to tie the game. Hudson then proceeded to win the game for the Flames in the 9th inning with another round tripper.

The Flames have played a strong schedule this season, which has resulted in an RPI of 20, four spots ahead of the Hokies. Eight of their losses have come versus teams ranked in the Top 7 at the time of the contests, including #5 Alabama (6-3 and 8-1), #7 LSU (4-3 and 8-5), #5 Oklahoma State (9-4 and 3-0) and #1 Oklahoma (5-4 and 16-0). The Flames split a pair of games with Notre Dame, and lost a game to #18 Tennessee.

Although the Flames are led in the circle.by Junior Emily Kirby (1.98 ERA, 118 Ks in 102.1 innings), she ran into early trouble last week against the Hokies and was lifted in the third inning after surrendering 3 runs via home runs to Mackenzie Lawter and Alexa Milius.

Freshman Karlie Keeney (2.23 ER5, 57 Ks in 116 innings, 14 starts) entered the game in the third inning and held the Hokies scoreless over the last 6.2 innings, surrendering only 3 singles. It would not surprise me to see her get the start on Tuesday.

This should, once again, be a very competitive game. Based on the Tale of the Tape below, the two teams are very close statistically, with the Hokies having a slight advantage in the pitching department.

Let’ Go Hokies!


[Post edited by VTChip at 05/04/2021 01:37AM]