No. 6 Tennessee Trumps No. 17 Virginia Tech

No. 6 Tennessee defeated No. 17 Virginia Tech 11-0 in five innings, an impressive showing for the Lady Vols.

Virginia Tech struggled to make anything positive happen on both sides of the ball, barely able to muster up two baserunners and just one hit on the day.

Ace Ashley Rodgers got the start for Tennessee, striking out six Hokies in her four innings pitched. Rodgers held Tech to just 17 total at-bats, failing to hit through the order twice fully.

Hokies’ ace Emma Lemley started in the circle, immediately running into trouble. Lemley made it through just four outs before freshman Lyndsey Grein came in to relieve, the score already 7-0. Grein would go on to pitch 2.2 innings, allowing another three runs before Molly Jacobson closed.

Tennessee was hot as can be at the plate, the powerful team mustering up 10 hits against a slew of Hokie pitchers. It was McKenna Gibson’s three-run homer that opened the game up early, taking the 7-0 lead in the second inning. Zaida Puni also had a great game, punching three doubles and a single for a pair of RBIs and two runs.

Virginia Tech will head to Notre Dame (24-11-1) on Friday for a three game series next, before Radford (11-22), the other New River Valley locals, come to Tech Softball Park on Tuesday.