No. 11 Virginia Tech rallies late, wins series versus No. 16 Stanford
It was the battle of momentum in Blacksburg. But in the end, the pendulum went the way of the Hokies, thanks to Lyla Blackwell. Stanford’s Jade Berry roped a ball to left field in the top of the sixth, headed for the gap and keep Stanford’s bats hot. Instead, Blackwell made the diving play, starting Virginia Tech’s first-ever triple play.
No. 11 Virginia Tech answered back in the bottom half of the sixth with five runs en route to beating No. 16 Stanford 8-7 and clinching the ACC series.
The bottom half of the order for the Hokies put two on in the six. However, Kylie Chung, facing the top of Virginia Tech’s order for a third time, needed one out to get out of the jam. All-American Cori McMillan hit one up the middle for a two-RBI double to tie the game. Michelle Chatfield hit the go-ahead single. Rachel Castine added the insurance runs with a two-run blast. And those mattered in the run.
It took one swing to get an offense going. Virginia Tech starter Emma Mazzarone retired the first 11 batters she faced Saturday with an early 3-0 lead. Until she met River Mahler for the second time. The Stanford shortstop hit a solo home run to get the Cardinal on the board.
Her team carried the momentum into the fifth. Stanford found a pair of singles after the first batter was retired. Chung helped her own case with two outs. She hit a ball up the middle that got under the glove of Virginia Tech shortstop Annika Rohs for a game-tying single. Taryn Kern gave Stanford the lead with an opposite-field two-run blast.
Stanford put itself in business to open the sixth as well as Mahler and Joie Economides hit back-to-back singles. That’s when Blackwell swung things in favor of Virginia Tech. Emma Lemley entered in the seventh to close the game. After getting the first out, she allowed the next two batters to reach. Camryn Carmouche came through with a two-run double to pull within one. Lemley struck out Kern and got Emily Jones to fly out to end the game.
Virginia Tech will seek the sweep at noon ET, while Stanford will try to salvage the series finale.
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