Virginia Tech Hokies Softball Handles Business 7-0 Against JMU in Day 2 of Hokie Invite

SALEM, Va—The Virginia Tech Hokies dominated JMU, 7-0, on both sides of the plate; Tech plated seven runs over the first three frames while freshman arm Avery Layton shoved the first five scoreless.

"Clean game," was Hokies' head coach Pete D'Amour's response postgame. "Didn't give up any walks, played team defense, hit balls hard."

Let's hear it for a shutout 👏#Hokies pic.twitter.com/dapF2fdxcR
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) March 7, 2026

Layton made her seventh start of the season against the Dukes (9-9); through her fine innings of work for Tech (18-2), Layton penciled the third scoreless outing of her freshman campaign.

"I thought [Layton] was really good, no walks," said D'Amour. "The defense worked ahead."

In her 18 batters faced, Layton surrendered just three base runners to JMU, off three singles that only amounted to a Duke in scoring position once, leaving them 0-for-1 on the day batting with runners in scoring position.

"We started out really hot, our defense played really good," Layton said postgame. "They definetly had my back."

As a freshman, finding the confidence to attack the zone may be tough, but Layton fired 41 of her 63 attempts in the zone, not allowing a base-on-balls in her first outing this year.

"I needed to zone in a little bit early in the game," Layton said. "Definitely kept going through the innings and [the offense] was really there for me."

"[Layton's] stamina is increasing, velocity is increasing," D'Amour said.

Layton's five scoreless gave way for the opposite end of the experience spectrum, as senior Sophie Kleiman entered in the sixth for two innings of hold work.

Similarly, to Layton, in Kleiman's two innings of action, she allowed only two Dukes on base, off singles from outfielder Kendra Lewis and sophomore Emily LeGrand.

All of Tech's seven runs came within the first three bottom frames, while each Hokie starter picked up a base-knock in the contest.

"Everybody's ready to play," D'Amour exclaimed. "We can play for defense, we can play for offense, you can do all the other things when you have a talented roster."

Sophomore Nora Abromavage extended her on-base streak to 19-straight games for Tech by poking a two-out RBI single into shallow centerfield.

"[She's] more mature this year; phsycially stronger," D'Amour said about Abromavage. "Elite bat speed, just has good at bats."

The brunt of the Hokies' scoring came to fruition in the second, which started with freshman Gaby Mizelle, three days removed from her ACC freshman of the Week honor. After watching a ball skirt passed, getting a feel for junior arm in the circle, Allie Braly, Mizelle sliced a low line-drive over the right center fence for an opposite field solo home run.

A trio of RBI singles followed from Michelle Chatfield, Kylie Aldridge, and Abromavage, scoring eachother in the process. Chatfield plated Annika Rohs, and freshman Jordan Bishop pinch ran for Aldridge, scurrying the Hokies ahead, 5-0, in the bottom of the second.

After sophomore Jordan Lynch legged out an infield single to shortstop Emma Jo Evans, Foster wrapped a smoking hot softball around the right field foul pole to bring them both across the plate.

In the Hokies' 20 games to open the season, their 18-2 record is the best 20-game start D'Amour has had in Blacksburg, while it seems both sides of the ball are clicking for him. In the circle, Tech's pitchers have allowed over four runs in just two contests this season (8-5 victory over South Carolina, 7-6 loss to Michigan State).

The Hokies will tackle two contests tomorrow, taking on Penn State at 3:30 p.m. and Radford at 6 p.m. ET. Tech will look to add on to its 11-game win streak.