Virginia Tech (16-2) finished undefeated in the Jane B. Memorial hosted in Auburn, Alabama, putting up 49 runs in five games. It marked the Hokies' third undefeated weekend through the first month of the season.
Game 1
It was USC Upstate on the docket first for Virginia Tech, with Sophie Kleiman getting the start.
The Hokies got started with some power as Michelle Chatfield tallied a lead-off home run, followed by Jordan Lynch who had a three-run home run of her own. Gabby Mizelle finished off the first inning with an RBI double, making it an early 5-0 lead.
In the next inning the Spartans made up some ground with a two-RBI double to left field by Laila Landrum. She would then touch home plate after Taliyah Thomas knocked a double.
Virginia Tech’s bats didn't cool off as Gabby Mizelle tallied a two-run home run in the third. In the fifth, the Hokies put the game to bed, putting across eight runs in the frame. Kylie Aldridge got the scoring started with a two-RBI double, immediately followed by an RBI single by Zoe Yaeger. Jordan Lynch added to her game, bringing in another run. Rachel Castien capped off the game with a three-run blast to make it a 15-3 game.
USC Upstate added one more run but was run-ruled by a score of 15-4.
The team had 13 hits on 28 at-bats, and Jordan Lynch had four RBIs with three hits, tied with Mizelle.
Game 2
The Hokies then faced Auburn in a Friday night softball matchup in their fifth SEC game of the season so far. Freshman Avery Layton got the start in the circle.
The Tigers drew first blood with a McKaela Walker two-run home run to right field.
Auburn’s starting pitcher Ella Harrison shut out the Hokies until the fourth inning, when Castine brought in Addison Foster to halve the deficit.
Bree Carrico quickly came into the game for Layton during the second inning and finished the rest of the game.
Virginia Tech then took the lead in the fifth inning after Chatfield scored on an error and Jordan Lynch continued her great day with an RBI single to take a 3-2 lead. Auburn quickly got the lead back in the same inning with an Ava Ratliff three-run home run to left field.
The Hokies responded in the sixth inning after Annika Rohs doubled down the infield line to bring in a run, followed by Chatfield who brought her in to score to take a one-score lead again. Nora Abromavage then crushed a two-run home run to give the Hokies a three-run lead to cap off the game-winning inning.
Virginia Tech added one final run after Auburn’s Charley Butler walked in a run in the seventh to take a 9-5 win.
Games 3 and 4
On Saturday, the Hokies took on Troy, with Avery Layton getting the start again after a shortened game against Auburn.
Layton had a much better game, going four innings out of the five and only allowing one hit. Addyson Fisher came in for the final inning to help a combined shutout of the Trojans.
Virginia Tech put up runs quickly as Chatfield scored on a wild pitch and Jordan Lynch hit a two-run home run over the center field fence to make it a 3-0 lead in the first. Two innings later, Aldridge had a sac-fly RBI.
In what would be the final two innings of the game, Chatfield notched another home run on the weekend, bringing in two runners. The final runs came by a fielding error on a Mizelle single to close the game out.
The Hokies were set with another bout against the Tigers, with Emma Mazzarone getting her first start of the weekend.
In this one, Virginia Tech got out in front early, with Addison Foster knocking a base hit that brought in Yaeger and Aldridge to take a two-run lead. Three innings later, Rachel Castine doubled the lead with a two-run home run for her second multi-run blast of the weekend.
It continued to be all Hokies in the fifth inning, with Lynch tallying an RBI triple and later was brought home by Foster on an RBI double to extend the lead to 6-0.
Auburn got its first two runs of the game in the fifth after a two-RBI single, but it was too late for a comeback.
Emma Mazzarone went all seven innings, and allowed two runs late and only three hits with seven strikeouts.
Game 5
The final game of the weekend for the Hokies had them set up with a rematch against USC Upstate. Mazzarone opened up this game in the circle as well.
This time the Spartans got the first run of the game at the top of the first inning; however, the Virginia Tech bats stayed hot. They immediately took the lead with Abromavage and Foster tallying RBIs to make it a 2-1 lead.
In the second inning, the Hokies showed some more of their power with two-run blasts from Chatfield and Yeager to give the Hokies six runs in two innings. In both the third and fourth innings, Virginia Tech added two runs to extend its lead to 9-1 with RBI hits from Aldridge, Yager, Mizelle, and Rohs.
USC Upstate added two more runs in the fifth with a home run from Alyssa Davenport; however, Addison Foster walked it off with an RBI double to run-rule the Spartans again. The Hokies took the contest, 11-3.
Virginia Tech now stands at 16-2 in the regular season and is 6-0 against SEC teams. The offense has also seemed to be finding its rhythm, scoring at least six runs in their last 10 games, and scoring at least nine runs in seven outings in their last 10 outings.
Next up is a weekend back home in Salem for the Hokie Invitational. They’ll play five games against Michigan, JMU, Penn State, Radford, and Bryant.
