After coming off of three losses and two wins at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, the Irish look ahead to their games against the Virginia Tech.
Last year when the Irish faced the Hokies, they went 2-1 in a home series. The Irish won the first game 6-1, lost the second game 8-7 and won the last game 11-3 in five innings.
In the first game, current senior catcher Carlli Kloss started strong for the Irish with a single to left field and a steal of second, followed by Lexi Orozco with a home run making the score 2-0. The Hokies came back in the second inning with one run scored making the score 2-1. The Irish were quick to respond in the third inning scoring three runs to gain a 5-1 lead and then scoring the final run in the fifth inning winning the first game 6-1.
In the second game against the Hokies, the Irish unfortunately took the close loss of 8-7. Junior Shannon Becker started on the mound for the Irish, throwing 1 inning with sophomore Micaela Kastor coming in to pitch the next six innings.
The Irish battled back and took home an 11-3 win in the third game against the Hokies. Payton Tidd started in the circle for the Irish. Throwing the entire game, Tidd only allowed 6 hits and 3 earned runs in the 5 inning game. Offensively, Joley Mitchell led the team going 3-4 at the plate, driving in 4 runs and scoring twice herself. Orozco (who hit her 12th home run in this game), Miranda Johnson and sophomore outfielder Mickey Winchell also added to the offense success, all having multiple hits.
Virginia Tech notched four wins and one loss this past weekend at the Georgia Classic. Starting the weekend off strong, the Hokies took an 8-0 win over Radford and a close 5-4 win over No. 3 Georgia. Saturday did not start off great for Virginia Tech with a 7-5 loss in their second game against Georgia. Battling back later that day, Virginia Tech won 6-0 against Dartmouth. In their final game of the weekend, the Hokies took a 13-1 win in their second game against Radford.
Virginia Tech has strong players in all areas of play. Starting with batting, Addy Greene leads the team with a .442 batting average. Michelle Chatfield also is a star in the box with a .395 batting average. Emma Ritter leads with a total of 16 runs scored and a total of 21 hits on the season so far. Greene additionally leads the team with a total of 14 runs batted in. Chatfield, Greene and Emma Ritter have combined to club 13 home runs as well.
Virginia Tech has four pitchers that have been seen on the mound: Emma Mazzarone, Cassie Grizzard, Lyndsey Grein and Emma Lemley. Grein leads in the circle with a total of 44 strikeouts and two saves for Virginia Tech. All four have ERAs below 3.50.
In the field, Virginia Tech also had many leaders. Infielder Emily LeGette leads the team in putouts with a total of 83 with her teammate Kylie Aldridge also being high in the stat with a total of 63 putouts. Utility player Bre Peck leads the team with a total of 32 assists in the field.
The Irish and Hokies face off in Blacksburg, Virginia, on 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday. All three games will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra.
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