super regional stunner: Hokies upset no. 2 ucla in game 1 victory

Colby Talley

May 28, 2021

A familiar chant was heard in the stands of Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif.

A chant so loud that viewers at home could hear it clearly over the ESPN broadcast.

“Let’s go!”

“HOKIES!”

The chant was a microcosm of the evening as a whole. No. 2 UCLA (44-5, 19-2 PAC-12) – the defending national champions who had only lost two games at home all season – allowed the Virginia Tech (37-13, 23-11 ACC) to come into Easton Stadium and defeat the Bruins in game one of the Los Angeles Super Regional by a score of 7-2.

The Hokies wasted no time setting the tone as Kelsey Brown and Cameron Fagan beat out infield singles in the first two at-bats of the night. Kelsey Bennett knocked in a two-RBI triple to deep right field, giving the Hokies a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

The Hokies scored more in the fourth inning when Fagan recorded another single with the bases loaded to drive in Darby Trull and Emma Ritter. Then, they added two more runs in the fifth inning after Addy Greene drove in a run with an RBI single and Mackenzie Lawter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

In addition to the strong offensive showing, the VT also received yet another premium pitching performance from its ace Keely Rochard.

Rochard started the evening by striking out the first six batters she faced through the first two innings. Additionally, Rochard didn’t allow a baserunner through the first four innings.

UCLA finally got to Rochard in the bottom of the fifth when Maya Brady drew a four-pitch walk and Kinsley Washington hit a single to the outfield while advancing to second on the throw.

Pinch hitter Jenavee Peres got the Bruins on the board when she lined a two-RBI single to deep left field to drive in Brady and Washington.

Despite the Bruins gaining some momentum with Peres’ big hit, that would be their only offense of the game as Rochard shut them out in the last two innings. The Hokies scored an additional insurance run top of the seventh when Brown drove in Greene with a single up the middle.

The Bruins were plagued with two big issues throughout the game. The first was their fielding as they committed four errors which gave the Hokies free baserunners on multiple occasions.

The second issue was the pitching and hitting performance of Rachel Garcia. Coming into tonight’s game, Garcia had a 0.87 ERA and a .362 batting average.

Not only did Garcia underperform in the circle giving up four earned runs on nine hits, but she also went 0-3 hitting with two strikeouts against Rochard.

The Hokies will be hoping for the Bruins to suffer from similar issues later tonight as they try to end the series in Game 2 and advance to the Women’s College World Series. That game will start at 9:30 P.M. on ESPN2.