Two Homers from Two Seniors Pave Hokies' Sweep over North Carolina

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Two seniors, Kylie Aldridge and Rachel Castine, potentially shut the door on careers in Tech Softball Park in the best way imaginable, knocking two homers for five total RBIs, in a 5-4 victory for No. 16 Virginia Tech over North Carolina.

"In our program, you're going to get better," Tech head coach Pete D'Amour said. "They're good kids, and they're still working hard and they're seeing the fruits of their work pay off now."

Brought out the brooms. 🧹#Hokies | @DeltaDentalofVA pic.twitter.com/3CrM2zDU9V
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) April 26, 2026

For a program often known for its long ball approach, it was a fitting end to the 2026 home regular season for Tech (41-9, 15-6 ACC).

The Hokies were going for the sweep over the Tar Heels (31-18, 9-15), but for the seventh straight game, they found themselves in the hole to start.

This time it was off the bat of former Hokie Emily LeGette; the infielder launched a home run off freshman starter Bree Carrico in the first. Her homer came right after Carrico fanned the two opening bats in order on backwards K’s.

"Just really focusing inside on batters and trying to get them jammed, and then going out offspeed," Carrico said.

Tech jumped on the Tar Heels freshman arm, Jil Livengood, early in the first, who also started the Friday contest.

Livengood’s opening battle ended with a hit-by-pitch against center fielder Addison Foster, as she tried to go inside. Third baseman Jordan Lynch followed by poking a single into right field.

On a 1-1 count, Aldridge, the designated player, launched a 234-foot moonshot to center field, which was backed by one of the loudest crowd pops Tech Softball Park has ever seen.

From there, North Carolina slowly chipped away at Carrico anyway they could, drawing long at-bats to draw her pitch count high, before leveling the contest at three in the third.

With leadoff batter Sanna Thompson standing on second curtosey of a full count walk, LeGette smacked an RBI single through the right side of the infield for her second of the contest, before right fielder Michele Tarpey evened out the affair with a high RBI triple that faded away from Foster.

Junior southpaw Emma Mazzarone relieved Carrico in the fifth and instantly allowed Thompson a free pass on a four-pitch walk, which LeGette once again struck, this time just by dribbling a ball back to the circle with Thompson on second. The flashy speed of Thompson allowed her to bridge the 120 feet home to grab the lead, 4-3.

Livengood pitched all six innings for North Carolina, and with the Friday affair, the Hokie bats had seen her a lot in the weekend, so by the bottom of the sixth, they capitalized.

"She threw well, we hit balls well and made a good adjustment in the middle of the game," D'Amour exclaimed.

Sophomore Nora Abromavage sent the second pitch of the sixth frame off the wall in left-center, which hit the yellow strip that runs all across, so just a few mere inches from tying the contest.

Castine left no doubt on relying on a lucky bounce off the wall, as she blasted the go-ahead two run home run into center field, in what was possibly her final at bat at Tech Softball Park.

"I was just trying to hit the ball hard, like always," Castine said. "It was a longer at-bat, I was just trying to work the middle of the field and hit the ball hard."

That was not the end of the theatrics, as Thompson drew her third walk of the afternoon, Carrico returned to the circle with two outs to face LeGette, who was intentionally walked, as one does against anybody that bats .470 entering the contest and has three RBIs in the affair.

"LeGette's on fire, so we didn't want her to beat us," Pete D'Amour said. "Two righties coming up after her, it was a better matchup for the right handers to go against Bree [Carrico]."

One more free pass loaded the bases when Carrico pegged third baseman Shelby Barbee, but a fly out from Tarpey ended the sweep over North Carolina.

The Hokies travel north to take on Syracuse to end their 2026 regular season. Tech has had success up north this year as they swept Boston College in March, but for the series against the Orange, it spans from May 1-3, with coverage available on the ACC Network.

Add us as a preferred source on Google