BLACKSBURG, Va. – Georgia Tech softball (29-18, 11-8 ACC) couldn’t overcome the first inning deficit, falling 8-4 to No. 15/16 Virginia Tech (33-9-1, 15-4 ACC), on Friday night at Tech Softball Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. The Yellow Jackets scored four runs in the final three innings but still came up short after falling behind, 6-0 after the first inning.
QUICK HITS
- Jaidyn Studebaker set a new career high with 4.0 innings pitched, throwing the final four innings of the game, allowing only four baserunners and two runs.
- She put up a 1-2-3 fifth inning, retiring the Hokie hitters with just five pitches.
- Reese Hunter launched her eighth home run of the season, a three-run shot in the top of the fourth.
- Her three RBI ties a career high for a single game while giving her 20 RBI for the season.
- Sara Beth Allen drew two walks tonight, bringing her season total to 41, tied with Jen Yee (2009) for the fourth most in a season in program history.
- The walks extended her on-base streak to 16 games, the second longest streak of her career, three shy of her career best set earlier this season.
- Jin Sileo led off the third inning with a double, extending her hitting streak to a career-best seven games.
- Sileo is batting .556 during her hitting streak, posting a team-best 10 hits with six singles, a double, a triple and a home run.
- Paige Vukadinovich went 2 for 2 with a walk tonight, her 10th multi-hit game of the season, more than triple the multi-hit games she accomplished in her freshman season (3).
- Mallorie Black hit her 14th double of the season, tied for the third most by a Yellow Jacket in the Morales era.
- She came around to score after her double, her 48th run of the season. She is two runs away from achieving a 50 run, 50 RBI season, something that hasn’t been accomplished at Georgia Tech since Kelsi Weseman in 2011.
- Sophia Voyles pitched 1.2 innings without allowing a run. She struck out two batters to bring her season total to 57, just six shy of Blake Neleman for the most on the team.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia Tech scored six runs in the bottom of the first to go in front, 6-0. The Jackets stayed in the fight offensively, betting runners on base in each of the first three innings before scoring three runs in the top of the fourth. Madison Dobbins got the inning started with a single, Tiffany Domingue would replace Dobbins on the base paths after a fielders’ choice, advancing to third off a single from Vukadinovich. With runners at the corners and one out, Hunter connected with a pitch, driving it deep out to left, over the wall for a three-run home run. Studebaker kept the momentum in the Jackets’ favor in the bottom of the inning, working around a leadoff walk for a scoreless frame.
Tech kept the comeback alive in the top of the fifth with Black smashing a leadoff double on the first pitch she saw and advancing to third on a single from Allen. Black came home to score as Virginia Tech executed a double play but the Jackets had pulled within two runs. Studebaker delivered a flawless fifth inning, throwing only five pitched to sit down all three Hokie batters. Vukadinovich reached on an infield single in the top of the sixth but momentum shifted when Virginia Tech delivered its second double play of the night to get out of the inning. The play at first was incredibly close but Georgia Tech was unable to challenge the call as it had already used its two challenges in the game, with the second one resulting in Vukadinovich’s safe call earlier in the inning. VT finally scored on Studebaker in the bottom of the sixth, adding two more runs on the board with a two-run homer, resulting in an 8-4 final score.
UP NEXT
The Jackets continue the series at Virginia Tech tomorrow. First pitch is set for 2 pm and will be streamed live on ACCNX.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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