No. 14 HOKIES SUFFER THEIR FIRST HOME LOSS TO CHARLOTTE

By Josh Collier

Staff Writer

March 22, 2023

BLACKSBURG — No. 14 Virginia Tech softball was hot coming into this one, after sweeping Georgia Tech in a three-game series on the road, and not having lost a single one of their five home games so far this season. But Charlotte (16-12, 4-2 C-USA) brought it today, hitting three home runs and playing stellar defense in the outfield to knock off the Hokies (22-6, 8-1 ACC), 3-2. 

The best player out on the field today for Tech was starting pitcher Emma Lemley. Lemley won the pitcher’s duel against Charlotte’s Sam Gress, tossing fourteen strikeouts as opposed to Gress’s five. This also marked Lemley’s eighth game of the season with double-digit strikeouts. But sometimes, the long ball can hurt you, and that’s exactly what happened today. 

Lexi Winters, Kassidy Krupit and Kiyah Garrett each smashed a home run of their own for the 49ers. The Hokies failed to do so up until the seventh inning, when they came ever so close to erasing a 3-0 deficit. Jayme Bailey sent a two-run shot over the right field wall to get the Tech crowd up on their feet as they prayed for the tying run. Those hopes were quickly shut down, though, when Krupit recorded the final out of the contest to retire Meredith slaw and secure the 3-2 victory. 

Speaking of crowds, Charlotte had a pretty fair crowd of its own at TSP today who made the trip up from North Carolina. They made sure to bring the energy for the 49ers.

Virginia Tech still has 17 more home games left in the season out of 25 total remaining before the ACC tournament. The Hokies will look to bounce back when they return home this weekend to take on Chattanooga in a three-game set. First pitch for Friday’s contest is set for 6 p.m. ET and will be streamed on the ACC Network Extra.