rochard tosses no-hitter against syracuse to end five game skid

Colby Talley

April 30, 2021

Virginia Tech (30-12, 21-11 ACC) was in the midst of a five-game losing streak and was desperately in need of something to go its way with the ACC Tournament inching ever closer.

Luckily for the Hokies, Keely Rochard answered the call by throwing a no-hitter in an 8-0 win against Syracuse (19-17, 11-14 ACC) in what could be considered her most important start to this point in the season.

On Friday afternoon, Rochard rose to third place on the all-time strikeout list for Virginia Tech with 719 strikeouts. Rochard ended the matchup against Syracuse with 16 strikeouts in total.

The Orange, who came in with the worst statistical offense in the ACC, struggled to any success against Rochard’s rise-ball. Additionally, the Orange didn’t manage to put a runner on base until the third inning when infielder Rebecca Clyde walked.

The Hokies broke out in a big way after they were limited on offense against Notre Dame last weekend and Liberty in the middle of the week, tagging Syracuse’s pitching for eight runs on nine hits. Additionally, the strong winds blowing through Skytop Softball Stadium led to a bevy of errors which all seemed to favor the Hokies as four of their runs were unearned as a result of the Orange’s miscues.

The Hokies’ offense managed to load the bases in both the fourth and sixth innings. In both innings, the Hokies managed to score runs by continuously knocking the ball into the outfield, and kept the proverbial conveyor belt moving.

An even more emboldening factor of the Hokies’ offensive performance was that it came against Orange ace Alexa Romero, who currently holds a 2.86 ERA for the season. Romero left the game in the fourth inning and was replaced by Lindsey Hendrix who went on to pitch the rest of the way.

The win will definitely go down as an important one for the Hokies as they finally end a losing skid that has heavily affected their chances of hosting a regional game in the NCAA tournament.

Inversely, the Orange will be looking to bounce back tomorrow as the two teams continue the series with a doubleheader.

The game times will be at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.