Hokies Take Two of Three out West

This past weekend, the Hokies traveled all the way to Berkley, California to take on the new ACC addition, Cal, for a three game weekend series. They needed to bounce back from a shocking series loss against Pitt last weekend. They had no trouble in the first two games, but ended up losing the finale in a shutout. Let’s dive in.

In the series opening game, the Hokies won 11-3 (5 innings) in dominant fashion. Sophie Kleiman got the start and pitched a solid 4.2 innings on her way to recording a win. Emma Lemley was brought in for the final out. Offensively, Cori McMillan has continued to be the story. She went 1-1 with three walks and two RBI, oh, and a lead off homer in the first inning, which extended her national home run lead. Michelle Chatfield also had a stellar game, going 3-4 with two homers and six RBI’s. That will earn her player of the game honors. In the circle for Cal, nobody was really able to establish a rhythm. Miranda De Nava got the start and threw just three innings before she was pulled after giving up five runs. The next pitcher out was Ashanti McDade, who likewise had a lot of trouble. McDade threw just two innings and surrendered six earned runs.

In the second game, the Hokies gave the ball to Emma Lemley in their 9-0 win. Lemley was spectacular, throwing seven scoreless innings on her way to striking out 10 batters. Cori McMillan and Michelle Chatfield dominated again, combining to go 5-8 with two homers and three RBI. Trinity Martin also found success in game two, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Cal, again, could not get established and comfortable in the circle, with their starter throwing three innings where she surrendered five runs. The bullpen for Cal did stabilize things slightly, combining to give up three runs in the final four innings of work. Michelle Chatfield will get player of the game honors again for this one.

In the third and final game, the Hokies were shutout in a 4-0 loss. Emma Mazzarone got the start for the Hokies, throwing four scoreless innings before Pete D’Amour made the jump to Emma Lemley out of the bullpen. Lemley had trouble, throwing just 1.1 innings and allowing all four runs on her way to recording the loss. Cassie Grizzard got the last two outs for the Hokies. Offensively, the Hokies clearly had troubles. Cal starter Annabel Teperson absolutely shoved, with seven scoreless innings in her start. Nobody had a multi-hit game, and the Hokies were held scoreless. The best performance was, again, who went 1-2 with a walk. 

While the Hokies obviously would loved to have swept Cal, it does greatly hurt their chances at winning the ACC Regular Season Title. Top 5 FSU comes to Blacksburg next weekend, and the Hokies have a chance to take the ACC Regular Season title from them. The only issue: they need to sweep the series against a top five team in the nation to do so.

On Monday, Cori McMillan was present with a golden ticket to be the second Hokie drafted into the first ever Athletes Unlimited Softball League. There are only nine players who have given this golden ticket, and Virginia Tech is the only school to have two of those players. This is obviously very deserved, as Cori McMillan is having an absolutely spectacular season, leading the nation in home runs and having a 2.33 BB/K rate.