virginia tech takes down no. 15 arizona state to advance to regional final

Nick Cheshire

May 21, 2021

For the second straight day, No. 2 seed Virginia Tech brought out its big gun and flexed its muscles, as it sent Keely Rochard to the circle in the winners bracket semifinal in the Tempe, Az. Regional in the NCAA Tournament.

On Friday afternoon, Virginia Tech (35-13) slayed the top seeded host, Arizona State (33-15), behind yet another impressive performance from Rochard and early and plentiful run support, 8-2.

Rochard is rolling at the moment, cruising through the first two postseason games, and has only allowed two runs in each start. On Friday, one could argue that two less-than-perfect pitches were the only thing standing in her way of a shutout — both runs came on solo homers.

She was dominant from the beginning, routinely shaking off leadoff walks, tallying nine strikeouts, and seemingly getting better as the game progressed. Rochard capped off the impressive performance with an effortless 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh.

“It was nice to just be able to throw my game and not have to worry about anything, because even if I gave up a grand slam, we would still be winning,” Rochard said after the game.

The Virginia Tech offense was potent once again, jumping out to an early three-run lead in the top of the first, and never looked back.

When we swung the bat, we made contact, we made good contact,” head coach Pete D’Amour said. “I've said it all year, this is a potent offense."

Alexa Milius began the onslaught by driving in Kelsey Brown with a single, and later in the inning, Addy Greene roped a double down the right field line to drive in two more.

A pair of home runs from Alexa Milius and Cameron Fagan in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, provided more than enough cushion for Rochard, putting the game well out of reach.

Milius went 2-4 with 3 RBI’s, including her two-run homer in the fourth, and Kelsey Bennett was incredibly consistent from the plate, going 4-4 with a quartet of singles.

The Hokies now await BYU, who defeated Southern Illinois and Arizona State in the elimination side of the regional bracket on Friday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Tech defeated the Cougars in its opening round win on Thursday night, 5-2.

Winning the first two games in regional play paves a clear path for the Hokies to advance, and because they have not yet lost, the team that they face tomorrow will have to beat them twice.

Virginia Tech is playing its best ball of the year at the right time, and if it can advance to a super regional, it’ll need to continue to fire on all cylinders, with a potential matchup with No. 2 UCLA looming in the next round.

“… it feels like we're peaking right now,” D’Amour said. “It was good to see."