The #6/#6 Virginia Tech softball team (17-3, 5-0) continued to enjoy the friendly confines of Tech Softball Park on Friday, sweeping an ACC doubleheader from Syracuse Friday by scores of 13-1 (5 inning, run-rule) and 8-1.

As they have done all year, the Hokie pitching staff dominated the opponent’s bats. Keely Rochard (9-2), Ivy Rosenberry, and Emma Lemley (7-1) limited the Orange to 7 hits, 2 runs, and struck out 26 batters in 12 innings. Lemely matched her career high in strikeouts with 16.

The Virginia Tech bats showed up in a big way, scoring 21 runs in the two games and going 22 for 50 (.440 average) on the day. Freshman Bre Peck broke out in a big way, going 5 for 6 with 2 doubles and scoring 4 runs. Senior Darby Trull went 3 for 5 and drove in 3 runs and Emma Ritter (.431) continued her outstanding season with a 3 run bomb.

Senior Mackenzie Lawter added a monster 2-run shot off the scoreboard in the second game. Morgan Overaitis came off the bench swinging, going 2 for 2 in a pinch hitting role and drove in 2 runs.

The VT victory in game one gave Hokies Coach Pete D’Amour his 200th career win as a head coach – a remarkable milestone given that this is just his sixth year as a head coach. As expected he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We played well tonight,” said D’Amour. “Some of our ‘colder’ hitters are really swinging well and adding more depth to the lineup. Our pitching was stellar at times and just ok at other times. We righted the ship fairly quickly though. Our baserunning needs a little tune up so we’ll address that in practice next week.”

But the VT Coach was also excited to have three of his former Hokie players in attendance – Olivia Lattin, Emma Strouth, and Caitlyn Nolan, who had an informal reunion in Blacksburg Friday.

“Just as important as the game for me was being able to see and talk to Liv, Emma, and Nolan,” said the VT Coach. “I owe a lot to those young ladies and it means a great deal to me that my former players want to come back. They’ll always be a big part of our program.”

The series with Syracuse is scheduled to conclude Sunday at 2:00. The game will be shown on ACCNX.

Photo below from HokieSports

[Post edited by VTChip at 03/12/2022 3:11PM]