BLACKSBURG, Va. – The University of Notre Dame softball team dropped both ends of a twinbill at #23/20 Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon. The Fighting Irish drop to 8-7 on the season, and are 0-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference action. The Virginia Tech Hokies improve to 14-3-1 on the season, and 2-0 in league play.
Sophomore Micaela Kastor got the start in game one. She threw 4-plus innings, allowing seven hits, seven earned runs to go with a strikeout. Shannon Becker came on in relief, throwing an inning plus, allowing two hits, two runs, one earned to go with a strikeout.
The Fighting Irish offense went for just three hits in the first contest. Rachel Allen Cassidy Grimm and Anna Holloway each recorded a single in the loss. Karina Gaskins finished 0-for-2, and drew a pair of walks.
Alexis Laudenslager got the ball to start the second game. The graduate transfer threw 3.1 innings, allowing nine hits, eight earned runs and struck out three before giving way to Becker. Becker threw the final 2.2 innings, scattering a pair of hits to go with an earned run and a strikeout.
The Irish offense totaled three hits in the nightcap. Addison Amaral led the charge with a three-run homer. Gaskins and Winchell each added base hits in the loss, with Gaskins drawing three more free passes.
How It Happened – Game 1
The Irish struck first in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Grimm got the rally going with a single up the middle. Holloway followed suit with a base knock to right and Grimm went first to third. Notre Dame manufactured a run as Holloway executed a delayed steal, and the throw to the infield was wild to score Grimm and put the Irish up 1-0.
The Hokies took the lead in the bottom of the third, using a two-out rally of their own. A fielder’s choice and a stolen base put Emma Ritter into scoring position. Addi Greene connected on a triple to center field to score the run and tie it up. A walk to Cameron Fagan put runners on the corners for Cori McMillan who doubled to right field to score both and put Virginia Tech up 3-1.
Virginia Tech utilized the long ball in the fifth to open up the lead. A lead off double and a walk put two on for a three-run homer, followed by a solo shot to extend the lead to 7-1.
The Hokies put the game away in the sixth, scoring two runs. A lead off single and an error put two on for McMillan who doubled, bringing in both as the Hokies earned a 9-1 win.
How It Happened – Game 2
The Hokies stormed out of the game in the nightcap, scoring five runs. A single and a walk started the frame. A single back up the middle scored a run before back-to-back home runs put Virginia Tech up 5-0.
A two-run homer in the bottom of the second extended the lead to 7-0. After a scoreless third, the Hokies added an unearned run in the fourth. With runners on the corners, Virginia Tech executed a double steal, allowing the eighth run to score.
Amaral kept the game alive in the fifth inning. Emily Tran reached on an error to start the rally, and Gaskins drew her 20th walk of the season to put two on. The freshman turned on an up and in 0-2 pitch for her fourth home run of the season to cut the lead down to 8-3.
Virginia Tech got a run back in the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Irish got a two-out walk from Gaskins, but that was all the offense could manage.