No. 11 Virginia Tech (23-4, 1-2 ACC) was riding a 22-2 record and 15 straight wins coming into conference play this past weekend. The Blue Devils halted the Hokies in their tracks as they dropped 2-of-3 contests.
Early runs for No. 25 Duke (18-10, 5-1 ACC) gave Virginia Tech troubles, and while the Hokies have been resilient in their comebacks, they weren’t able to do so in the first two games of the series.
Game 1: No. 25 Duke 7, No. 11 Virginia Tech 6
Emma Mazzarone got the start against the Blue Devils, but didn’t have her best stuff to start. In the first inning, she walked three of the first four batters to load the bases. Perfectly set up for Duke’s Tyrina Jones to blast a grand slam to give the Blue Devils a 4-0 lead.
In the following innings, the Hokies had no answers to Cassidy Curd’s pitching through the first five frames. While the Hokies were able to get on base, they couldn’t take advantage until the fifth inning.
Duke did add two more runs, one in the fourth and one in the fifth inning, to extend its advantage to 6-0.
In the sixth inning, Virginia Tech caught a spark from a Zoe Yaeger solo shot that was quickly followed by Gaby Mizelle putting one over the fence to bring the deficit back to four. That led to a Duke pitching change as Mallory Wheeler came in for Curd.
The Hokies kept the pressure on in the seventh inning with a Rachel Castine home run to make it a 6-4 game in favor of the Blue Devils. Wheeler put two runners on the base path with two outs, leading to another pitching change. Larissa Jacquez was placed in the circle, and with Castine back at the plate, she hit one to the warning track, and Duke’s outfielder Adelyn Matthews misjudged the ball, allowing what would’ve been the game-winning out to become the game-tying hit.
Jacquez got the final out, allowing the Blue Devils the chance to walk it off. After a KK Mathis double, Bree Carrico was brought in to get the game to extras. Carrico sat down the first two batters she faced with Adelyn Matthews coming to the plate. Matthews smacked Carrico’s pitch to centerfield, and was able to bring in the game-winning run.
Game 2: No. 25 Duke 5, No. 11 Virginia Tech, 2
The second game started similarly to the first, with Avery Layton starting in the circle. The Blue Devils plated four runs in the first inning. Two RBI singles by Aminah Vega and Tyrina Jones got Duke started. A Jayla Stafford flyout added another, and the inning was capped off with a Kaira Rodriguez RBI double. Layton closed out the inning, but Bree Carrico was placed in relief to start the second inning.
This time, the Hokies were able to put runs across the board earlier in the second inning. Hailey Luginbill knocked a two-RBI single to cut the deficit in half.
It looked like Virginia Tech could do more damage in the fourth with bases loaded, but Jordan Lynch couldn’t capitalize.
Duke’s D’Auna Jennings added another run in the bottom of the fourth, making it a 5-2 game. That was the final run for the Blue Devils, thanks to Bree Carrico keeping them at bay.
In the final two innings, the Hokies once again put pressure on a late-game comeback. In the sixth, a fielder’s choice and a Castine base hit put runners on first and second. With one out, Annika Rohs grounded out into a double play, ending the inning.
In the seventh, there was one more chance for the Hokies to tie the game up or to take the lead. A Jordan Lynch single, followed by two straight outs, made it bleak for the Hokies; however, two straight walks loaded the bases. Kylie Aldridge was at the plate with the chance to flip the game on its head. It was Duke’s pitcher, Ava Bradshaw, who won the battle against Aldridge and forced her into a groundout to give Duke the 5-2 win and the series win.
The common theme in the first two games was the Hokies not being able to take advantage of runners on base. Duke had impressive pitching performances, but Virginia Tech was able to get runners on base but not across the plate.
Game 3: No. 11 Virginia Tech 10, No. 25 Duke 2
With the series going to the Blue Devils, the Hokies had a chance to avoid the sweep. Emma Mazzarone got her second start of the series, getting off to a much better start.
After a scoreless first inning, the Hokies struck first with a Rachel Castine RBI single. They threatened another run with the bases loaded, but couldn’t get another. In the next inning, Adelyn Matthews quickly erased the lead with an RBI single.
In the third, a Jordan Lynch solo bomb gave the lead back to Virginia Tech. Matthews quickly brought the game back to a tie in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly.
In the fifth inning, the Hokies' bats got hot, putting up eight runs. A Nora Abromavage three-run homer got things started. That led to Mallory Wheeler getting replaced by Larissa Jacquez, but the change didn’t stop the Hokies. A Rachel Castine sacrifice fly added another to make it a 6-2 lead.
Michelle Chatfield knocked an RBI single to add one run, then Kylie Aldridge cleared the bases on a two-RBI triple to give Virginia Tech a seven-run lead. Zoe Yeager singled to bring in the last run.
Emma Mazzarone, still pitching in the fifth, struck out the first two batters. After allowing a walk and an advancement from a wild pitch, she struck out the last batter to run-rule the Blue Devils 10-2 in the final game of the series.
Next up is a mid-week double header against Longwood on Wednesday. Followed up with the home opener against NC State this weekend.
