Blacksburg, Va. (March 7, 2023)--The Mount St. Mary's softball team put a scare into No. 10/13 Virginia Tech in a 6-5 loss in the opening game of doubleheader on Tuesday. The Hokies won the second game, 10-2. The Mount held a lead heading into the bottom of the sixth in the opening game before falling by one run.
In the opening game,
Maggie Kane belted a three-run homer in the top of the fifth inning to put the Mount ahead, 3-1.
Zoe Wilcox and
Abigayle Perry drew walks to set the table for Kane, who came through with her first long ball of the year. The Hokies (16-14) sliced the deficit in half on a solo home run from leadoff hitter Emma Ritter in the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Madison Hanson hit a two-run homer to put Virginia Tech on top, 4-3. The Hokies added two insurance runs on a Mount error to make it 6-3.
The Mount fought back in the top of the seventh with
Brianna Manni blasting a two-run homer to cut Virginia Tech's lead to 6-5. The Hokies were able to end the game on a strikeout to escape with the one-run win.
Avery Neuhart started for the Mount, allowing two earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.
Elizabeth King allowed four runs (two earned) in 1.0 innings of relief while
Amaya Bowman got the final out in the bottom of the sixth.
Hannah Gartrell went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Mount offense, which collected seven hits total in the game.
In the second game, the Mount held a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth before Virginia Tech exploded for three runs in the fourth and six more in the fifth to earn the win. After Emma Jackson hit a solo home run to give Virginia Tech a 1-0 lead, the Mount scored single runs in the third and fourth to take the lead. Gartrell reached on an error to bring home a run in the top of the third, and King hit an RBI double in the fourth to put the Mount (3-9) ahead. A Jayme Baily two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth made it 3-2, and Kylie Aldridge followed with a solo blast for a three-run lead heading to the fifth. The Hokies sealed the win with six runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth.
Maddie Coleman started for the Mount, allowing four runs in four innings. SIx different batters had a hit in the loss.
The Mount is back in action tomorrow night with a 6:00 p.m. game at UMBC.