‘Dialing It Back In One Pitch At A Time’: Mazzarone Sets New Career-High With 14-Strikeout Day Against Virginia

Mazzarone struck out 14 of the 31 batters she faced in Virginia Tech's 3-1 victory over UVa. Thursday.

Atlantic Coast Conference

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — At first glance, a 3-1 score — the margin of Virginia Tech’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Virginia last night at Palmer Park — might suggest a relatively routine result.

The pitching statistics say otherwise.

Hokies (45-9) junior left-hander Emma Mazzarone authored one of the most demanding outings of her career, working all seven innings as the Hokies advanced to the tournament semifinals. Mazzarone allowed four hits and one earned run, walked five and struck out 14 across 31 Cavaliers (38-13) batters on 128 pitches.

DOMINANT 🔥

A complete-game victory with a career-high 14 (!!!) strikeouts for @EMazzarone in the ACC Quarterfinals! #Hokies pic.twitter.com/4ciIshJ9O2

— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) May 8, 2026

“It’s unreal — she’s just one of a kind,” said center fielder Addison Foster. "From first pitch to end pitch, she's throwing the same speed. She's spinning it the same. She's truly one of the best pitchers I've ever played with. It's really cool to see that from her."

Virginia put traffic on the bases throughout the night, but Mazzarone consistently navigated and avoided said traffic. The Cavaliers left nine runners on base, went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded three more in the seventh inning.

“I think we played great,” Mazzarone said. “We just went out and had fun. Just what we do every time.”

It was the fifth-longest outing of Mazzarone’s career by pitch count, and it demanded nearly every one of them. Mazzarone had previously only hit the 10-strikeout mark three times in her career, tabbing 10 against Southern Utah in 2025, then 10 again against both Charlotte and Boston College this year.

Despite her pitch count going past 100, Mazzarone did not lose her velocity. Even with the pitch count passing the 110s, Mazzarone still threw at 72-73mph. In the opening inning, the Cavaliers used an error, a walk and a stolen base to place runners at second and third with nobody out. Mazzarone responded by striking out third baseman Bella Cabral and catcher Reagan Hickey before getting center fielder Kassidy Hudson to fly out, keeping the game scoreless.

That sequence set the tone. Virginia put at least one runner aboard in all seven innings but rarely found the hit that changed the game. Mazzarone struck out three in the fourth, with Virginia’s only response a two-out double from designated player Hannah Weismer.

In the sixth, after Hickey singled with one out, Mazzarone retired the next two hitters on strikeouts. By the time she reached the seventh, Mazzarone had already recorded 12 punchouts, breaking her career-high with the second out of the sixth inning.

Mazzarone has tabbed eight games with nine or more strikeouts in her career. She’s also tabbed nine games this year with eight or more punchouts. This year, she’s thrown for a 2.93 earned run average and a 16-4 record. That, and 161 strikeouts.

The Hokies supplied just enough offense; Foster sparked the breakthrough in the third inning. With one out, the center fielder lined a triple down the right-field line. An errant throw over third base allowed her to score, giving Virginia Tech a 1-0 lead despite managing only one hit in the frame. The Hokies added two more in the bottom of the fourth and held a 3-0 lead entering the top of the seventh.

It was there that Virginia mounted its most serious threat. Right fielder Madison Greene was hit by a pitch, left fielder Jaiden Griffith added an infield single and shortstop Jade Hylton walked to load the bases with one out. After first baseman Macee Eaton reached on a fielder’s choice that retired Greene, who was heading to home, Cabral drew a two-out walk that plated the Cavaliers’ lone run.

With the tying run now in scoring position, Mazzarone — on the verge of her ninth complete game of the season — finished it herself. She struck out Hickey swinging to end the game, sealing Virginia Tech’s advancement to the ACC Tournament semifinals and sending her team’s dugout into a barrage of cheers.

“The last [strikeout] felt just as good as the first one,” Mazzarone said. “… It’s just dialing it back in one pitch at a time. The batter before that doesn’t matter, and then, just attack the next one.”

Thanks to her 14-strikeout day, Mazzarone was granted the ability to do something she’d never done before: Slap the Hokies’ sticker on the bracket, denoting that they were advancing.

“I thought I did OK [with the slap],” Mazzarone said. “It was a little suspenseful, but I guess it was fine.”

Virginia Tech takes on two-seed Duke today at 3:30 p.m. ET in the semifinals, with a berth to the finals on the line to take on either top-seed Florida State or four-seed Stanford Saturday. The Hokies lost their series to the Blue Devils on March 13-15 to open ACC play, though they claimed a 10-2 run-rule victory in game three.

“I think our chemistry is just better, and we’re ready to go,” Mazzarone said. “We’ve  been looking forward to this all week, so just staying with it.”