Bree Carrico, Avery Layton Combine for Complete Game Shutout in 9-0 Victory over Liberty Flames

LYNCHBURG, Va. — The No.10 Virginia Tech Hokies pick up their third straight victory on the season, and ninth straight over the Liberty Flames, with a 9-0 complete game shutout from a duo of freshman arms.

8th shoutout of the season 🚫#Hokies | @DeltaDentalofVA pic.twitter.com/BqpbdGSrVI
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) April 16, 2026

Redshirt freshman Bree Carrico started the afternoon affair by firing four frames for the Hokies (37-6, 11-4 ACC), giving up three hits while striking out four Flame bats over her 50 pitches hurled.

This allowed her to hand off the circle duties to true freshman Avery Layton, who finished the final three innings on 33 pitches, striking out 1 batter while inducing a lot of contact outs.

After not appearing in play last season, Carrico made her sixth start of the 2026 campaign against Liberty (20-22, 13-5 CUSA), in her 24th appearance. Her four scoreless frames will only lower her season ERA of 1.32, which she entered the midweek matchup with.

If Carrico can continue to toss scoreless outings, she may be in contention for a place in the top-five best seasons, ERA-wise in program history, with only two pitchers to complete a season under a 1.00 ERA (Angela Tincher - 0.56 ERA in 2007, 0.63 ERA in 2008; Ashlee Dobbe - 0.92 ERA in 1999).

Layton didn't see any action in the Virginia series, as she last saw action as she opened last week's midweek matchup against Radford with five frames, allowing one run, ending the contest with three full innings of work to drop her season ERA down under three, to 2.96.

Over the 10 batters Layton faced, she only tossed 33 pitches, attacking the zone for nine putouts with the help of her defense.

The Hokies offense scored its nine runs over four innings of offensive action against Liberty, with three homers responsible for a large chunk of Tech's runs.

It started early for the Hokies, as leadoff batter Addison Foster sliced a double on the third delivery of the contest from the Flames' starter Gabby Mike, bringing up sophomore Jordan Lynch (.432 avg), who smacked her 13th homer of the season to centerfield.

Lynch also tallied Tech's third RBI in the second, as the lineup rolled over for Foster with two outs. She drew a walk for Lynch to slice a double into left center, bringing the Hokies' lead up to 3-0.

The two-run home run in the first from Lynch made her the program leader with 13, moving her past fellow sophomore Nora Abromavage... only for three frames.

Abromavage led off the fifth, extending Tech's lead to 4-0 with her 13th shot of the season as well, sending hers to left center.

Mike remained in the game for the Flames, but back-to-back walks drawn from Kylie Aldridge and Zoe Yaeger ended Mike's outing shortly after the homer, turning the circle honors over to sophomore Danner Allen.

Allen immediately allowed Castine to poke an RBI single through the 3-4 gap in the infield, ending Mike's line with five earned runs. After Castine's RBI, Allen retired the next six Tech bats she faced, which carried the contest into the seventh.

Tech pounced on Allen in the seventh, loading the bases in just three batters for true freshman Gaby Mizelle, who launched her first career grand slam into orbit around Lynchburg, doinking it off the flag poles that stand behind dead center field.

The Hokies return to Blacksburg for their first contest since April 4, for an ACC series against Georgia Tech, which spans from April 17 to 19. This three-game series will be available on the ACC Network Extra as Tech kicks off a seven-game homestand.

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