The No. 23/22 Hokies put 10 runs on the board to knock off the No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals 10-8 Thursday, advancing to the ACC Championship semifinals for the second straight season.
Sophomore Emma Lemley (20-10) got the win for Virginia Tech (37-17). The right-hander went 5.2 innings, giving up six runs and striking out six. Lyndsey Grein came on in relief with two outs in the sixth, giving up two runs and striking out one to close out the win.
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Offensively, the Hokies hit four home runs and were paced by sophomore Bre Peck, who went 2-for-4 on the day with a double, a home run and two RBI. Junior Cameron Fagan compiled a standout performance as well with a home run and three RBI. Senior Kelsey Bennett also chipped in for Virginia Tech, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate while adding a home run and two RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 1-0, the Hokies first put runs on the board in the third inning. Virginia Tech hit two home runs in the inning on the way to scoring four runs. Fagan knocked a three-run home run to take the lead, followed by a solo home run from Addy Greene to put the Hokies up 4-1.
The Cardinals failed to push any runs across before the Hokies offense got back to work the next inning. Virginia Tech scored twice on back-to-back home runs from Peck and Bennett, which brought the Hokies lead to 6-1.
Louisville narrowed Virginia Tech’s lead to 6-3 before the Hokies stretched the advantage to 7-3 in the fifth inning with an RBI off the bat of Peck to score Jayme Bailey.
The Hokie bats continued to stay hot and pushed two more runs across in the sixth on a two-run double off the bat of senior Kelsey Brown that scored sophomore Rachel Castine and freshman Kylie Aldridge, bringing the Virginia Tech advantage to 9-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Louisville got within 9-8, plating five off a two-run home run and three RBI singles. The Hokies answered, scoring again in the seventh inning to stretch its lead to 10-8. Virginia Tech scored once on an RBI single off the bat of Bennett. The score remained 10-8 for the rest of the game, as the Hokies defense held on for the win.
GAME NOTES
» Lemley struck out six Cardinals hitters.» The Hokies power output was led by Peck, who picked up two extra base hits in the ballgame.» Every Virginia Tech starter reached base safely in the win.» Four Hokies had multiple hits in the ballgame.» Virginia Tech hitters hit four home runs in the ballgame.» Virginia Tech went 5-for-14 (.357) with runners in scoring position.
5-seed Virginia Tech faces #1 seed Florida State in the semifinals at 11 a.m. on Friday.