Virginia Tech Opens Weekend Series with Win Against Louisville

Colby Talley

March 27, 2021

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No. 19 Virginia Tech opened its four-game weekend series on Friday with a 3-0 victory over Louisville.

The Hokies (17-4, 11-4 ACC) turned to star pitcher Keely Rochard for a fourth consecutive game and she rewarded them with their fourth straight win in that timespan.

This game also marks the fourth straight complete game for Rochard and the third time in the past four games where she has thrown 16 or more strikeouts.

The Cardinals (9-12, 3-7 ACC) kept the game close through the first four innings with solid pitching of their own. Starting pitcher Taylor Roby didn’t allow a hit in three innings of work and reliever Jennifer Leonhardt pitched a solid fourth inning to keep the score tied at 0-0.

The deadlock was broken in the fifth inning as the Hokies strung together a couple hits against Leonhardt and scored three runs, courtesy of RBIs from Kelsey Brown, Darby Trull, and Jayme Bailey.

From there, the Cardinals brought in reliever Payton Hudson, who allowed one hit and no runs through the final three innings of the game.

This left the door open for the Cardinals to mount a comeback in the late innings, but nothing came to fruition as Rochard only allowed one more hit after the Hokies’ big fifth inning.

The Hokies will look to keep riding their upward momentum as they continue their series against the Cardinals with a doubleheader on Saturday. Those games will take place at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.