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Virginia's Extra-Inning Rally Falls Short in 9-8 Loss to No. 13 Virginia Tech

The Cavaliers' comeback in the bottom of the eighth came up just short as the Hokies took game 1 in a thriller on Thursday

Matt Newton

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

It has been a long time since the rivalry between the softball programs of Virginia and Virginia Tech has been this competitive. With the Hokies becoming a mainstay in the ACC and the Cavaliers building some serious momentum in the last few seasons since they moved into their new home at Palmer Park, this year's edition of the Commonwealth Clash was especially anticipated. 

Game 1 delivered on those expectations and then some, as the Hoos and Hokies went back-and-forth in an epic battle that required extra innings to determine a victor. Virginia Tech twice led by four runs, but UVA never quit. Virginia put up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but the two-out rally came up just short as No. 13 Virginia Tech escaped with a 9-8 thriller to open the series on Thursday evening at Palmer Park. 

Virginia Tech got off to a brilliant start as Kelsey Brown took the first pitch of the game from Eden Bigham down the left field line for a leadoff single. Cameron Fagan drew a walk and then Bre Peck hammered the ball well over the center field fence for a three-run home run. Bigham settled in after that and struck out the next two batters en route to getting out of the first inning. 

The Cavaliers responded with a long ball of their own as Jade Hylton hit the first pitch she saw from Virginia Tech starter Emma Lemley over the wall in left center for a leadoff solo home run. 

Katie Goldberg followed that up with a single, but Lemley managed to work through the rest of the inning with no further trouble. 

Eden Bigham got herself into a jam in the top of the second, issuing a leadoff walk to Kelsey Bennett before Kelsey Brown got on board with a bunt single. Fagan hit a ball off the end of her bat that barely landed fair down the left field line to score another run, giving the Hokies a 4-1 lead. Virginia Tech threatened to blow the game open with the bases loaded, but Bigham got Jayme Bailey to ground out to end the inning. 

The third and fourth innings passed with no runs scored as Emma Lemley continued to suppress the UVA bats and Virginia brought in Savanah Henley, who worked a 1-2-3 third and got out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth with a couple of infield popouts. 

The Hokies extended their lead in the top of the fifth as Kelsey Bennett golfed a solo shot over the fence in center field to make it 5-1. Virginia inserted Courtney Layne into the circle to finish the inning. 

With their backs against the wall, the Cavaliers refused to go down without a fight. Jade Hylton and Katie Goldberg hit back-to-back one-out singles up the middle and then Sarah Coon reached base on an error as Virginia Tech second baseman Cameron Fagan couldn't get a handle on what could have been a double play ball, allowing Hylton to score from second. The error proved costly as Tori Gilbert came up and smacked an 0-2 pitch over the fence in left center for a clutch game-tying three-run home run. 

UVA threatened to take the lead with a runner on second, but Reece Holbrook lined out to Fagan, who made a nice leaping catch to prevent a run from scoring and end the inning with the game still tied. 

Both Courtney Layne and Emma Lemley pitched 1-2-3 innings in the sixth, but then the Hokies put runners on first and third with no outs in the top of the seventh. Virginia brought Jenny Bressler into the pitcher's circle and Bressler got Rachel Castine to hit a line drive right to Gabby Baylog, who made the diving catch and got her foot onto the first base bag to turn a critical double play. Bressler walked the next batter but then struck out Meredith Slaw to get out of the inning with no runs scored. 

Lemley set down the Cavaliers in order in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings. While Bressler worked a borderline miracle to get out of the seventh inning jam, the eighth inning wasn't nearly as successful. Brown singled and Fagan drew a walk and then Peck brought them both in with a clutch two-run double down the left field line. Back-to-back singles from Emma Ritter and Jayme Bailey brought in another run and spelled the end of Bressler's outing. UVA brought in Mackenzie Wooten, who gave up a sacrifice fly to Bennett, but worked out of the inning without allowing anymore runs. 

But the damage was done, as Virginia Tech took a 9-5 lead entering the bottom of the eighth. As it turned out, the Hokies needed all four of the runs they scored in the eighth as the Hoos once again put on their rally caps. 

Gabby Baylog was hit by a pitch to start the inning, but the next two UVA batters were retired by Lemley to put the Cavaliers down to their final out. Kelly Ayer reached base and then Shelby Barbee came up with a clutch pinch-hit three-run home run to make it 9-8. 

Jade Hylton followed that up with a single and then stole second, representing the tying run. Virginia needed just one more hit to extend the game, but it wasn't to be. Emma Lemley got Katie Goldberg to ground out to second base to end the game, with Virginia Tech taking game one 9-8. 

"It's a rivarly now. That's what it should be," said Virginia head coach Joanna Hardin after the game. "There's a lot of positives to take away... this series is far from over." 

Now 25-12 overall and 6-7 in ACC play, Virginia will look to even the series with Virginia Tech in game 2 on Friday at 5pm at Palmer Park. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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