Caelan Koch thought she had earned the game-tying walk until home plate umpire Eddie Hall called a late strike in the 3-1 count. Koch rolled over on the next pitch, leaving the bases loaded and No. 16 Virginia Tech secured the 4-3 win over No. 11 Stanford.
Pete D’Amour turned to closer Sophie Kleiman in the seventh after six innings of Emma Lemley. The Cardinal took advantage of it. First of the first rout batters in the inning singled to score the first run.
D’Amour turned back to Lemley to secure the win, which she did. Lemley earned her 12th win of the season, allowing two runs on four hits. Joie Economides drew a walk to load the bases with two outs before Koch’s grounder ended it.
Stanford got to the Virginia Tech ace the second time through the order. Taryn Kern led off the third innings with a solo homer. Kyra Chan singled in another run after Lemley walked a pair of Stanford batters.
After struggling to square up and even find a hit against Stanford freshman lefty Zoe Prystajko, the Hokies got on the board in the fourth. Jordan Lynch found the team’s first hit. Kylie Aldridge then drew a walk to give Zoe Yaeger a chance. She cashed in. Yaeger lined a ball down the left-field line that just stayed inside the foul pole for a three-run home run.
Virginia Tech added a much-needed insurance run in the sixth. Lynch and Aldridge led off the frame with a double and single. Lynch came in to score on a groundout, which ended up being the difference in the game.
The Hokies try to clinch the series on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. Virginia Tech will likely start Emma Mazzarone (6-2, 3.29), while Stanford could start any of Prystajko, Kylie Chung or Alyssa Houston, who all threw in Friday’s contest.
In our biggest questions of the week, we asked if the Gamecocks would have enough pitching against the Tigers in Baton Rouge. After one game of the Top-10 series, the answer is no. No. 3 LSU run-ruled No. 10 South Carolina 11-3 in the series opener.
LSU doesn’t hit many home runs, but when they do, it’s typically Maci Bergeron and Tori Edwards. Both found a big blast. Bergeron lasered her eighth homer of the season in the first against South Carolina starter Nealy Lamb to put the Tigers up 3-0. Lamb exited without recording an out after McKenzie Redoutey’s RBI triple.
Edwards’ big swing came against Jori Heard. She blasted a sky-high grand slam, making Heard pay following a single and two walks. Edwards ended the game with five RBIs. She now has 49 this season.
The offense kept piling it on in the third inning. Edwards, Redoutey and Danieca Coffey all collected RBI singles versus Kadie Becker, who rode out the rest of the game for South Carolina. LSU has now scored 23 runs since losing to Georgia last Sunday.
Sydney Berzon improved to 14-1 this season, throwing all five innings. She cruised through the first four innings, only allowing two hits to South Carolina’s strong lineup. However, she did run into trouble in the fifth. The Gamecocks loaded the bases following a single and a pair of free passes. A sacrifice fly brought in the first run. Karley Shelton and Arianna Rodi hit two-out RBI singles to put the run-rule in danger. Berzon came back to finish up the win.
The Tigers will seek their third SEC series win on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. LSU will likely start freshman lefty Jayden Heavener (9-1, 1.76) against South Carolina’s projected starter Sam Gress (7-3, 3.00), who has been the team’s de facto ace the past few weeks.