Hokie Softball Avalanche Buries NC State to Go 28-4, 4-2 in the ACC

After losing 2 of 3 to Duke to open ACC play, the Virginia Tech softball team looked to rebound with a mid-week doubleheader at Longwood University and then finally coming home to play the Hokies’ first true series in Blacksburg, against NC State.

While reading about how the Virginia Tech's softball team fared this past week, take a moment to check out Paul Petera's excellent article on how Coach Pete D'Amour has evolved and shaped Hokies softball into a modern contender.

LONGWOOD DOUBLEHEADER

The Hokies swept into Farmville, Virginia and took two from the Longwood Lancers in dominant fashion.

GAME ONE - VIRGINIA TECH  12,  LONGWOOD  0  (5 INNINGS)

Virginia Tech used two big innings and a dominant pitching performance by its two freshman pitchers to run-rule Longwood in five innings in the first game of the double-header.

After being set down by Longwood starter Cierra Gawryluk in the first inning, the Hokies got on the board first in the top of the second inning. Left fielder Nora Abromavage led off the frame with a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, center fielder Addison Foster sent a lazy fly to right field that should have been the second out. However, right fielder Natalia Colone dropped the ball, allowing Foster to reach and Abromavage to move to second base.

Hokie right fielder Gaby MIzelle drew a walk also to load the bases and bring up second baseman Rachel Castine with an early opportunity to cause damage with one out. Castine sent a flyball to shallow right field that was caught, but the throw to home was high and offline, allowing a tagging Abromavage to score easily and give Virginia Tech the early 1-0 lead. 

Two innings later, the Hokies mounted another offensive flurry. Third baseman Jordan Lynch, Foster, and Mizelle all walked on 3-1 pitches. Once again, Castine delivered, this time driving a grounder up the middle past the pitcher to bring home Lynch and Foster to make it 3-0. After shortstop Annika Rohs hit into a fielder’s choice that erased the lead runner MIzelle at third, first baseman Michelle Chatfield golfed a single into left field to load the bases again.

Designated player Kylie Aldridge sent a 3-1 pitch to the right fielder who misplayed the ball and allowed it to go to the wall for the second error of the inning. All three baserunners scored with Aldridge ending up at third.

After the five run fourth made it 6-0, the Hokies were not done. In the top of the fifth, Foster led off with a double to the left-center gap that went to the wall.  Castine then hit another shallow fly, this time to left field. In what was a theme all game, the Longwood shortstop and left fielder both closed on the ball only to see neither secure it, allowing it to drop and Foster to score from second.

Freshman Lily Pallante pinch hit for Rohs and chopped a ball through the third base-shortstop gap for her first career hit that put runners on the corners. Chatfield followed with a fielder’s choice to third. Castine, who broke for home on contact, had to put on the brakes, but she avoided the tag during the rundown and made it safely home. After a challenge that she moved out of the base line failed, Castine’s score gave Tech the 8-0 lead. 

Two batters later, pinch hitting freshman Jordan Bishop lined a two-RBI single through the left side that got away from the fielder and plated Pallante and Chatfield. Abromavage reached on yet another Lancer error, and then pinch hitter MJ Abernary sent a RBI single to left field - the second hit of her career - to give Virginia Tech a 12-0 margin and officially put Longwood in run-rule territory.

Meanwhile, freshman Avery Layton earned the start and dominated Longwood. She gave up one hit over her 4.0 innings, with the Lancer’s only hit of the game a single to left field in the second inning. Layton just walked one batter and struck out four to earn the win and go 6-1 on the season.

Fellow freshman Addyson Fisher relieved Layton to pitch the fifth inning. She made quick work of the Lancers, inducing two lonely flyouts to the outfield and a quiet grounder to Lynch at third who got the assist to first for the final out.

GAME TWO - VIRGINIA TECH  7,  LONGWOOD  1

Virginia Tech threatened in the early innings of the night cap against Longwood, but the Lancers kept dodging trouble.

In the first inning, first baseman Michelle Chatfield hit a weak comebacker to pitcher Maggie Chapin, but Chapin’s throw to first was slightly off and the first baseman dropped the toss. The error put Chatfield safely on first, and then a wild pitch to catcher Kylie Aldridge allowed Chatfield to move to second. After Aldridge walked to put two players on with no outs, Chapin was able to get out of the inning via a flyout to the outfield, a soft liner to second, and a strikeout.

Hokie centerfielder Addison Foster led off the second by knocking a hit that ricocheted off the pitcher to get on first. Right fielder Gaby Mizelle poked a hit to shallow right field, and aggressive base running put Foster at third. Mizelle then stole second to give Tech two runners in scoring position again with no outs. Once again, Longwood escaped harm with a strikeout, an out on a Hokie for jumping out of the basepath to avoid a rundown tag, and then a weak popout to second.

Virginia Tech’s Sophie Kleiman got the pitching start and also flirted with early trouble. After allowing a single right back over her head on the first pitch of the game, she settled in to strike out two straight batters and induce a harmless flyout to center field to get out of the first.

She allowed a lead off single to left field on the first pitch of the second inning. After a bunt and misplayed ball at third, the Lancers had runners at the corner with two outs. However, Kleiman struck out the next batter to get out of the inning.

Kleiman’s fortune took a turn for the worse in the third when she gave up a leadoff walk to Longwood’s catcher Brooke Bennett.  Bennett moved to second on a wild pitch by Kleiman and then advanced to third on a fielder’s choice by left fielder Sophie Piscano. Lancer right fielder Brook Masingale hit a bouncer to first, but Rachel Castine’s throw home was not in time to stop Bennett from sliding in to give Longwood a 1-0 lead.

Virginia Tech finally broke through in the top of the fourth to tie the game. Third baseman Jordan Lynch led off the inning with triple to the center-right wall. Foster sent a sacrifice fly to the deep left field wall that allowed Lynch to tag and go home to tie the score 1-1.

The Hokies put the game away with three home runs over the next three innings.

With one out in the fifth, Chatfield drew a full-count walk followed by a long double into left-center by Aldridge that put runners at second and third.  Designated player Zoey Yaeger then greeted the second pitch she saw with a long ride over the left-center field wall for a three-run shot, her seventh of the year, and a 4-1 Tech lead.

An inning later, Addison Foster led off the sixth with a solo shot to the Hokies' favorite location, the left-center wall! 

True to form Jordan Lynch completed the scoring with a seventh inning home run to.…left center… that also scored left fielder Nora Abromavage.

Even though Kleiman had only given up one run, Bree Carrico relieved her to start the fourth and simply dominated the Lancers. Carrico pitched four hitless innings, walking one and striking out a career-high 10 batters to get the 7-1 win and go 6-0 on the season.

NC STATE SERIES

After starting ACC conference play with the 1-2 series loss to Duke, Virginia Tech looked to rebound against the NC State Wolfpack in the Hokies' first true home series of the year.  Tech carried the momentum from final game against Duke and buried the Wolfpack in an avalange of runs and masterful pitching.

GAME ONE -  VIRGINIA TECH  10,  NC STATE  0  (5 INNINGS)

It feels like Virginia Tech left-handed pitcher Emma Mazzarone has raised her game to another level.  After having issues with walks earlier in the season, including giving up those eight walks to Duke, Mazzarone may be becoming Tech’s ace right before our eyes.  After scorching the Blue Devils in the mercy rule win that salvaged the series against Duke, it was her time to turn her wrath on the Wolfpack.

NC State did not know what hit it in game one last Friday. Mazzarone threw a no-hitter going into the fifth inning. It was not until the final frame that she gave up a walk and two hits. After walking eleven in two games against Duke, she only walked one batter and struck out eight against NC State.  Indeed, of her 78 pitchers, she threw 47 for strikes.

The Hokie offense supported Mazzarone from the jump. Center fielder Addison Foster led off the game with a grounder to the left-center wall for her eighth double of the season.  Third baseman Jordan Lynch torched a ball that the NC State shortstop Carly Shot snagged and threw to first for the out. Left fielder Nora Abromavage also tested the left side of the infield, but third baseman Lily Livingston made the play to first to get the second out. That set the stage for Tech catcher Zoey Yaeger, who doubled to the right center warning track to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead.

The Virginia Tech bats showed no let up. With one out in the second, right fielder Gaby Mizelle muscled a single into left field and then showed off her jets in stealing second.  Second baseman Rachel Castine fought back from down two strikes to earn a full-count walk.  Shortstop Annika Rohs continued the momentum with a hack to left field that loaded the bases.

Foster then sent a screamer toward first, but NC State first baseman Taryn Massey snagged it out of the air in a bang-bang play. Fortunately, Rohs had the instinct to get back to the bag in time. This set the stage for the left-handeded Lynch. She took the first pitch she saw the opposite direction to the warning track in left right, bringing all three baserunners home, with Rohs getting just past the tag in a slide at the plate. Just like that, the Hokie lead was 4-0.

Virginia Tech runs kept coming in the bottom of the third. Yaeger hit a sharp grounder to third that Lily Livingston could not get a throw off. With Lyla Blackwell pinchrunning for Yaeger, first baseman Michelle Chatfield snuck a drive down the third base side that allowed the speedy Blackwell to round the bases and slide safely into third. 

The next batter Kylie Aldridge ripped a drive up the middle to score Blackwell and Chatfield to make it 6-0 with no outs. 

After right fielder Gabi Mizelle beat out a potential double play and moved to second on a wild pitch, second baseman Rachel Castine brought her home with a solid single to center field. Two batters later, Foster ricocheted a hit off the pitcher’s glove to the second baseman, who also mishandled the hot potato, allowingFoster to reach first and moving Castine to third.  Lynch capped off the inning with her fourth triple of the year down the right field line to score Castine and Foster and give Tech a 9-0 lead.

Aldridge hit a towering solo shot over the center right wall in the fourth inning to carve out the final 10-0 margin.

Emma Mazzarone, behind her magnificent complete-game performance and the dangerous Hokie offense, picked up her team-leading seventh win of the season.

GAME TWO  -  VIRGINIA TECH  11,  NC STATE  3  (6 INNINGS) 

A single game is not necessarily indicative of how the rest of a series will go. The question going into Saturday was how would both teams respond to Virginia Tech's shellacking of NC State the previous night.

Virginia Tech pitcher Sophie Kleiman got the start and didn’t get out of the first inning. In fact, she didn’t record an out.  NC State’s lead off batter Maia Townsend battled Kleiman until she blooped a long fly ball over left fielder Nora Abromavage’s head for a double. Kleiman then hit the next batter, Carly Short, on the first pitch to put runners at first and second. Wolfpack second baseman Kendall Simmons followed with a single that fell in between Rachel Castine and center fielder Addison Foster.  With Townsend holding up at third to make sure Foster did not make the catch, the bases were loaded with no outs.

Third baseman Lily Livingston stepped up to the plate and delivered a single up the middle that brought home Townsend and Short for a 2-0 Wolfpack lead.  That was it for Sophie Kleiman.  The Hokies brought in reliever extraordinaire Bree Carrico in an attempt to put out the fire with runners on the corners.

The first batter that Carrico faced, Hannah Church hit a rope to third base that a diving Jordan Lynch got a glove on but could not corral, sending the ball into foul territory and allowing another run to score.

Carrico walked the next batter to once again load the bases with no outs.

A first pitch ball to the next batter drew a mound visit from pitching coach Josh Johnson. Then Superwoman put on her super suit.  Carrico proceeded to strike out the next two batters swinging and then got her third out with a grounder to Castine who threw to first. 

That was all the offense NC State would muster for the rest of the game. Sophie Kleiman had faced four batters and was charged with three hits and three runs in 0.0 innings.  Bree Carrico shut down the Wolfpack from that point on, only allowing one hit and one walk the rest of the game.

The Hokie bats shrugged off the 3-0 deficit and went to work, scoring in every inning.

Center fielder Addison Foster led off the first inning with a double to the left-center gap. Jordan Lynch hit a sacrifice grounder to first base that moved Foster to third. First baseman Michelle Chatfield and catcher Zoey Yaeger then both drew walks to load the bases for designated player Kylie Aldridge.

Aldridge hit a bouncer back to the pitcher, who went home to get Foster. Fortunately, Aldridge beat the throw to first to avoid the double play. Then with two outs, left fielder Nora Abromavage golfed a first pitch double to the center field wall that plated Chatfield and Yaeger.  A wild pitch allowed Aldridge to score, and the Hokies had tied the game up 3-3.

In the second inning, second baseman Rachel Castine pummeled her eighth home run of the year, a solo shot to the Smithfield sign in center field that gave Virginia Tech the 4-3 lead.

Virginia Tech added another run in the third inning. Chatfield and Yaeger once again both drew walks, this time on 4-0 counts. Aldridge hit into another fielder’s choice that took out Yaeger at second and put runners at the corners. Lily Pallante came in to pinchrun for Aldridge and promptly stole second. After the third walk of the inning allowed Abromavage to load the bases,  Rachel Castine worked a two-out at bat for another free pass that extended Tech’s lead to 5-3.

NC State changed pitchers at that point, but it did not help. The Hokies put the game away in the fourth inning with four more runs. Lynch and Chatfield both singled to right field, and then a wild pitched allowed both to move up a base. With runners at second and third and only one out, Yaeger sent a grounder past the shortstop into center field to score two runs and push the advantage to 7-3. 

Lyla Blackwell came on as a pinchrunner for Yaeger. Aldridge then pushed another grounder up the middle to put runners on the corners. Abromavage followed suit with her own grounder between shortstop and third base to score Blackwell and make it 8-3. Mizelle drove a deep ball to the center field wall where two Wolfpack outfielders collided and almost lost the ball; it was deep enough to allow Aldridge to get to third. Castine then closed out the fourth by driving yet another grounder past shortstop to make the score 9-3. 

Virginia Tech added a run in the fifth and sixth inning. In the fifth, Lynch, Tech’s double machine, slammed a two-bagger to the center field wall and then came home on a drive to center field by Chatfied. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Rachel Castine decided to end the game right then with her second home run of the day, this one a first pitch screamer overvthe left field fence.

Bree Carrico earned the 6-inning 10-3 run-rule win to go 7-0 on the year. She ended up giving up one hit and two walks, and struck out six in six innings.  Sophie Kleiman’s final numbers were three hits and three runs without recording an out in the first.

With the win, Coach Pete D'Amour won the 300th game of his career, a testament to the administration, staff, and players who have helped build his programs over the years.

GAME THREE  -  VIRGINIA TECH  2,  NC STATE  1

I will repeat the missive from earlier. How games go earlier in a series is no indicator of how games tend to go on Sundays. With two run-rule wins over the Wolfpack, it would be tempting to assume the offense and pitching would continue their dynamic performances.

Half of that statement rang true as game three of the series became a bonafide pitcher’s duel with the starters from both teams keeping the offenses at bay.

Ace Emma Mazzarone got the start for the Hokies again while Rylee Wyman took the mound for NC State. After both teams threatened in the first inning, Virginia Tech struck first in the bottom of the second. 

Nora Abromavage stroked her team leading ninth home run over the 1st and Main sign in deep left center to give the Hokies a 1-0 lead.

The Wolfpack responded in the top of the third with a crazy, but avoidable play. Center fielder Maia Townsend snuck a ground pass just past the third base bag. Abromavage sailed the throw over the cutoff allowing Townsfield to motor on to third. Chatfield had good intentions to get the baserunner out at home, but her throw was off line. The unearned run tied the score at 1-1.

From there, both pitchers controlled the game. Each offense threatened at moments, including a bases-loaded situation for Tech in the fourth inning, but both pitchers escaped trouble. NC State brought in Wynn Gore in the third inning, and she continued to stifle the potent Hokie offense.

The game came to a head in the bottom of the seventh when Rachel Castine stopped a ball into center fielder to get the offense going.  She was replaced on the bases by pinchrunner Sarah McNelly. 

Next came the vital sequence that determined the game’s outcome:  Coach D’Amour is often questioned by fans for not incorporating much “small ball” in the offense. Shortstop Annika Rohs defied conventional fan opinion and dropped a pretty bunt down the third base line to move McNelly to second. 

Centerfielder Addison Foster drove the ball to the right side for an out that sacrificed McNelly over to third with two outs. Third baseman Jordan Lynch worked a walk to bring up first baseman MIchelle Chatfield. The hit-less Chatfield, who had only managed two groundouts and a walk all game, sent a pitch into left field to bring home McNelly and give Virginia Tech a walkoff 2-1 win.

Bree Carrico, who had relieved Emma Mazzarone in the top of the seventh, earned the win to go 8-0 on the season. Mazzarone threw six innings and allowed two runs, the one unearned run, and three walks, while striking out nine.

Virginia Tech (28-4) exited the weekend with a new five-game win streak and a 4-2 record in ACC conference play.

NOTABLES AND PLAYER STATISTICS

Emma Mazzarone and Bree Carrico won awards this week for their performances:

• Bree Carrico won the ACC's and D1 Softball's National Freshman of the Week after earning 3 wins, posting an 0.00 ERA, and striking out 16 batters.  She lowered her overall ERA to 1.42 to go with a 8-0 record.

For an excellent review of Bree Carrico's season, see Sports Illustrated's Thomas Hughes' article on the second year sensation.

• Emma Mazzarone won ACC Pitcher of the Week. She also had an 0.00 ERA while striking out 17 and winning one game. She lowered her overall ERA to 2.43 to go with a 7-1 record.

Other Notables:

• Nora Abromavage and Rachel Castine sit tied for the team lead with 9 home runs apiece.
• Jordan Lynch is second on the team with 8 home runs.
• Nine batters who regularly appear in the lineup have batting averages of.300 or over.
• Seven batters have over 20 RBI.
• Pitcher Avery Layton is 6-1 on the season.
• Freshman Lily Pallante notched the first hit of her career

RANKINGS

NFCA/Gorout - Moved the Hokies up from #12 to the #11 ranked team in the country.

D1 Softball - Ranked Virginia Tech #11, two spots better than last week.

ESPN.com/USA Softball - Moved Virginia Tech to #12, two spots ahead of the last rankings.

Softball America has the Hokies ranked #13, a jump of one spot from last week.

RPI:  Virginia Tech's NCAA RPI ranking is 15.

WHAT'S ON DECK

The Hokies travel this coming weekend to play the Boston College Eagles. BC has an overall record of 10-20 and is 12th in the ACC standings with a 2-4 record.  It will be the Eagles' first games at home after starting the season playing in warmer environs.

Boston College is tenth in the ACC with a .291 batting average compared to Virginia Tech's .369 BA. BC has only hit 38 home runs and 38 doubles on the season compared to Virginia Tech's 55 dingers and 67 doubles.

The Eagle pitching staff has the 13th worst ERA in the ACC whereas the Hokies sit atop fht ACC with an ERA of 2.57. Virginia Tech pitchers have also struck out 239 batters compared to 107 strikeouts for Boston College, last in the ACC.