Georgia Tech upsets no. 15 virginia tech

Nick Cheshire

April 17, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. — On Friday evening, the first of the four-game weekend series delivered a surprising outcome when No. 15 Virginia Tech — behind ace Keely Rochard — fell to Georgia Tech 6-4 at Tech Softball Park.

The Hokies (25-7, 16-7 ACC) returned from a week off with an underwhelming effort, with Rochard giving up an uncharacteristic six runs. The VT offense largely sputtered until the final two innings, when it was ultimately too little, too late.

Georgia Tech (13-20, 7-16 ACC) took advantage of a lackluster Virginia Tech performance with a couple of outstanding individual showings, including two home runs from Emma Kauf and seven gritty innings from its starting pitcher — freshman Blake Neleman.

After the first Kauf homer in the second, a solo shot, the Hokies responded with a bomb of their own in the third, a monstrous blast from Cana Davis so far over the left field fence that it cleared the pines and hit a moving car, giving VT a 2-1 edge.

For the next few innings it was all Yellow Jackets, who added two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth to stretch the lead to 6-2. Virginia Tech chipped away at its deficit in the bottom of the sixth when Emma Ritter blasted a ball off the center field wall to score two, cutting the lead in half.

Down 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Hokies loaded the bases, but Neleman forced a pair of timely infield pop outs to get out of the jam. She was impressive all day, limiting the damage and notching the win, moving her to 7-5 on the year.

Rochard took a rare loss, only her fourth of the year, dropping her to 19-4. She struck out twelve and looked dominant at times, particularly in the first inning when she struck out the side, but Kauf had her number all day, going 3-3 with the two aforementioned homers.

The Hokies will look to get back on track Saturday when the two teams meet again for games two and three, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.