Virginia Tech Softball Blanks Duke 5-0 in 2026 ACC Semifinals

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — ACC Freshman of the Year Bree Carrico punched Virginia Tech softball's ticket to the 2026 ACC Championship game for the first time in 14 years, throwing for 5 2/3 innings in the circle in the Hokies' 5-0 victory over Duke Friday.

"We're pitching well right now; we're hitting well right now, plus defense. So, putting all three phases together," said Hokies (46-19, 18-6 ACC) head coach Pete D'Amour on his first trip to the ACC title game.

ACC SEMIFINAL SHUTOUT!!#Hokies | @DeltaDentalofVA pic.twitter.com/ff6ncwM3mY
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) May 8, 2026

A day removed from fellow starter Emma Mazzarone’s 14-strikeout gem against Virginia, Carrico stamped her mark in the circle with 5.2 innings of scoreless work. Mazzarone entered for Carrico with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, and pitched 1.1 innings of one-hit ball.

"I'm really proud of Mazzarone and how she's doing," Carrico said. "I feel like we're just filling up the zone this weekend, hitting our spots really well."

Carrico had the pleasure of stepping into the circle for the first time with the advantage already behind her, thanks to junior first baseman Michelle Chatfield.

"It's a nice feeling, just knowing that I also have to go out there and do my best still, just to shut them down," Carrico said on opening the contest with the lead.

Chatfield dug into the right-handed batter’s box after Tech recorded two quick outs at the plate. Chatfield turned on the ninth pitch of the contest, squaring it up and sending it a high 272 feet over the bleachers in left center.

"The first few batters were ahead of it, and they said 'It's slower than you think,'" Chatfield said. "Just waiting on it, trying to go center, rather than pulling everything."

With the lead in her back pocket, Carrico did yield a leadoff single to center fielder D’Auna Jennings, which ultimately went as the only Blue Devils base knock until one out in the bottom of the sixth.

It wasn’t all stress-free for Carrico, though; four Duke batters reached base in that stretch, most prominently in the third.

A walk to left fielder Adelyn Matthews, and a hit-by-pitch against shortstop Jessica Oakland preceded a bases-loaded jam in the third, as senior Aminah Vega legged out an error that she rolled over to second base.

When Oakland was plunked, Carrico already had two outs in the frame, so one out was all she needed to escape scot free, and it came on a three-pitch swinging strikeout to third baseman Tyrina Jones.

"I knew I had to get that batter out — I couldn't let a run cross the plate," said Carrico.

Chatfield’s homer in the first served as the ignition switch for a Tech offense that has been rather dormant in Palmer Park this season.

"We didn't really notice it at first, but we don't change our game based on that," Chatfield said. "This is a hard field to play at."

The Hokies, through four contests in Charlottesville this season, hadn’t knocked a ball over the navy blue outfield wall; against the Blue Devils, the Hokies smacked four.

Sophomore Nora Abromavage led off the second frame by slicing a 239-foot, opposite field homer into the first row of the right field bleachers.

Fifth-year senior Rachel Castine did the same three innings late to lead off the sixth; she elevated her bat to reach the delivery from Duke's pitcher Cassidy Curd.

After 92 pitches, Carrico's forearm began experiencing tightness that spelled the end of her afternoon; Mazzarone took over for the save with two runners on base and a 2-0 count to catcher Gabriella Shadek.

"I just had some tightness in my forearm, but nothing too big," Carrico said on her exit in the sixth.

A day after Mazzarone tossed 128 pitches, the Hokies needed four crucial outs from her now, and she collected all four, albeit with a slight disturbance from the Blue Devils.

Duke stranded the bases loaded for the second time in the contest after Mazzarone couldn't drag herself out of the inherited 2-0 count, and redshirt junior Kairi Rodriguez stepped up to the dish as a pinch hitter against Mazzarone.

Mazzarone worked a pop out to Annika Rohs, at short to exit the jam, before she worked through the seventh in stride, fanning the side in five batters to extend the Hokies' stay in Charlottesville.

In the seventh, Mazzarone had the added luxury of a few insurance runs off the bat of Aldridge, as she lined a two-run homerun into Tech's bullpen in right field, to cap the scoring off at five runs for the Hokies.

Awaiting Tech in the ACC Finals is the 19-time tournament champion, the one-seed Florida State Seminoles. The two squads didn't match up in the regular season, which may favor the lower-seeded Hokies. The contest will take place Saturday, May 9, at 2:30 p.m. ET, with coverage available on ESPN.

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