Hokies maintain strong command in doubleheader, win Game 2

By Ishan Lamba

Staff Writer

March 11, 2022

BLACKSBURG — As the day turned to night and the flood lights came on at Tech Softball Park, Virginia Tech (17-3, 5-0 ACC) put together another dominant performance against Syracuse (10-8, 1-4 ACC) as they had in the game earlier in the day, downing the Orange 8-1 and winning both games by an aggregate score of 21-2.

After a strong pitching performance between Keely Rochard and Ivy Rosenberry in Game 1 of the doubleheader, Emma Lemley took over for the night game.

Coming off an impeccable performance from the weekend prior, Lemley continued her dominance, striking out seven of the first nine batters she faced.

She was aided by a Bre Peck RBI single which scored Emma Ritter, giving Tech a 1-0 through four frames.

The Hokies tacked on a couple more in the bottom of the third.

Darby Trull opened with a leadoff single, and Kelsey Brown, who struggled in the first game of the day, followed it up with a first-pitch bunt.

Cameron Fagan responded in kind with a first-pitch hit of her own, clubbing it up the middle, scoring Trull.

Then Addy Greene grounded out to shortstop to score Brown, good for a 3-0 lead.

Syracuse answered back, however, thanks to a pair of off-the-wall doubles from Neli Casares-Maher and Kelly Breen to slice the deficit to two. Quickly, a walk and a failed tag at second loaded the bases with two outs.

But Lemley was cool as ice, dishing out a three-pitch strikeout to Laila Alves to strand the trio on base.

VT added assurance runs in the bottom of the inning via consecutive first-pitch doubles from Peck and Jayme Bailey followed by a Trull triple to push the game to 5-1 after four.

Two straight one-two-three innings for Syracuse didn't help its chances, and a Mackenzie Lawter two-run shot plus a Morgan Overaitis triple and a wild pitch sealed the Orange's fate.

Lemley pitched a full seven innings, bagging 16 strikeouts to cap off a great Friday for Virginia Tech.