No. 18 Virginia Tech returns home for doubleheader against radford

Caleb Wetzel

March 17, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. — No. 18 Virginia Tech (10-3, 7-3 ACC) returns home Wednesday to take on Radford (6-10) in a doubleheader. These will be the first games played by the Hokies at Tech Softball Park since April 30, 2019.

The Hokies are coming off winning three of four games in a weekend series against NC State, giving the Wolfpack their first series loss of the season.

The Highlanders dropped both games of a doubleheader on Tuesday in Johnson City against ETSU. Prior to those games, they were on a four-game win streak.

The Hokies carry momentum coming into Wednesday’s games after breaking the school record for home runs in a game (8) in their 17-4 win Sunday against the Wolfpack.

The heart of the Hokies’ lineup has been incredibly productive lately, led by cleanup hitter Jayme Bailey, who’s hitting a team-best .372. Sophomore Kelsey Bennett is coming off a school-record three home run game and leads the team with five home runs on the year.

Radford struggled to contain ETSU’s offense, giving up 13 runs in the doubleheader.

A bright spot for the Highlanders coming into the series is sophomore pitcher Riley Oakes’s performance on Tuesday. She struck out 10 in nine innings pitched and only gave up two earned runs.

Virginia Tech is 42-13-1 all time against Radford and enters the doubleheader having yet to lose a series this season.

The Hokies and Highlanders face off at 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon for game one.

Series Details:

Location: Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg, VA.

First Pitch Times on Wednesday:

Game 1: 3 p.m.

Game 2: 5 p.m.