Flames News

Virginia Tech Silences Liberty's Bats in 9-0 Win

Liberty fell to Virginia Tech, 9-0, during game one of a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Virginia Tech posted a 9-0, five-inning victory over Liberty on Tuesday at Tech Softball Park, with pitcher Jasmin Harrell tossing a perfect game during game one of the doubleheader.

The Lady Flames fall to 18-32 on the season, while the Hokies are now 37-18. Virginia Tech broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning before Harrell closed out the win.

Harrell (26-13) pitched her first career complete game, striking out eight batters while facing the minimum number of batters in five innings.

Chandler Ball (10-12) drew the loss, allowing seven hits and nine runs in four innings.

The Hokies scored nine runs on seven hits, with Kat Banks and Bkaye Smith both hitting 2-for-2. Lauren Gaskill went 1-for-1 with three runs scored and four RBIs.

Harrell struck out two Lady Flames in retiring Liberty in order during the top of the first inning.

The Hokies took a 1-0 lead during the bottom of the first inning. Gaskill drew a leadoff walk and stole second, before Courtney Liddle drove her in with a single up the middle. Ball then got Kelsey Mericka to ground into a double play to end the inning.

Following a 1-2-3 Liberty second, Virginia Tech added two runs in the bottom half. With two on and two outs, Smith drove a two-run single to center to extend the hosts' lead to 3-0.

The hosts tacked on a pair of runs in the third frame, on an RBI double by Kylie McGoldrick and a sacrifice fly from Mericka.

Harrell registered her eighth strikeout of the game in the top of the fourth, posting her fourth straight three-batter inning.

During the bottom of the fourth, the Hokies loaded the bases with nobody out. Gaskill hit a 3-2 pitch over the center field fence, stretching the lead to 9-0. Ball retired the final three Hokies to bring the Lady Flames to the plate for the fifth time.

Liberty went in order in the fifth inning on two flyouts and a groundout, and the game ended via run-rule, 9-0 after five.