Virginia Tech Softball: Bre Peck's Historic Day Propels Hokies Past Charlotte 49ers

No.12 Virginia Tech Hokies (34-5, 11-1 ACC) run rule the Charlotte 49ers (20-22, 8-7) in six innings, completing the clean sweep of midweek matchups throughout the season with a 12-3 all-around team victory.

Emma Mazzarone for the Hokies and Aubrey Yarnell for the Niners would start the game electric in the circle. Combining to retire the first nine batters in a row to start the game---With Mazzarone sending three Charlotte bats back to the dugout via strikeout.

On Saturday against the Wolfpack, Tech center fielder Bre Peck put herself into milestone watch with a two-run home run in Raleigh. Peck had gone the entirety of the March slate without a home run, with her last coming on Feb. 28th.

After the first four Hokie bats would get sent back with no luck, Peck would step up in the second inning. Working herself into a friendly 2-1 count, she squared up the pitch, sending it high over the pitcher's head to center field, cutting ever so slightly and clearing the fence to tie the all-time Tech home run record at an even 50 with Megan Evans.

"It's pretty amazing, honestly, like a dream come true. Never thought I would be beating a school record, so it's pretty awesome... I think I was a lot more patient than I have been in a while, so I think that helped me," Peck said.

Infielder Jordan Lynch would reach on an error by the Niners, two batters later, Trinity Martin would single to bring Lynch in---Giving Tech the lead, 2-0.

Mazzarone would allow her first base runner in the top of the third, a four-pitch walk that seemed out of the groove after a perfect two frames to start. Nonetheless, the next three Niners would be sent down to get out of the inning.

The first hit of the game for Charlotte couldn't have been louder. The North Carolina sophomore, Teagan Ritchie, absolutely hammered a ball; there is no other way to express it. The ball would clear Beamer Way on the fly---Bouncing off the sidewalk into the shrubs leading up to Lane Stadium. Cutting the lead for the Hokies to one run.

Leading off the bottom of the fourth would be Peck, after tying the record in the second inning. She would stand next to Evans for only two innings, sending a solo shot slicing over the right field wall and putting her name alone on top of the Hokie record book.

The monumental day continues for Peck as with her two RBI performance, she would now take her spot next to Kelsey Bennett, who spent her career under Tech head coach Pete D'Amour, for first place on the all-time Hokie RBI list.

Later in the inning, with two runners on, outfielder Cori McMillan would send a homerun of her own over the fence, a three-run bomb to extend the Hokies' lead, 6-1.

Mazzarone would walk Jaylah Jarrell and Savanna Nguyen to lead off the fifth. After a wild pitch would put them both into scoring position, Addison Lund would ground out to Castine at second, taking enough time for Jarrell to score from third. A SAC fly from Brelyn O'Hearn would result in Nguyen crossing home, the last time a Niner would do so, making it a 6-3 ballgame.

Senior Emma Lemley would enter in the fifth inning to close out the game for the Hokies, her eighth relief appearance of the season.

Peck would once again be leading off for Tech, but she would draw a walk after not receiving any favorable pitches. Lynch would send a rocket into the gap, allowing Peck to score for her third time this afternoon.

Charlotte would make a pitching change of their own in the fifth, bringing in freshman Avery Shamblin. McMillan, the senior, would be all over Shamblin, sending a two-RBI double to the wall, cashing in Annika Rohs and Zoe Yaeger to make it 9-3.

Lemley made quick work of the sixth inning against Charlotte. Being down six runs and facing an ace with a prowess as high as Lemley's would be a tough task for any team to ammount back from.

As if the day only a fiction novelist could dream of couldn't get any better for Peck, she would do it again, a third solo trip around the bases, after ripping the 0-1 pitch to centerfield, notching her 171st career RBI to now stand alone past Bennett. Submitting herself as an all-time Hokie legend.

Peck would tie two single-game records along with her two career accomplishments. Tying her teammate Michelle Chatfield with home runs in a single game at three, which Chatfield did against Maryland Eastern Shore last year, along with matching Addy Greene with her four-run game against NC State last season.

Zoe Yaeger would cap off the game with a two-run home run, scoring Lynch in the process, finalizing the game, 12-3.

Tech picks up win number fourteen in a row now, and with all of the midweek games of the season wrapped up. It is four ACC series here on out, a great way to build momentum into the postseason.

A home series will be next for the Hokies, starting Friday at Tech Softball Park, taking on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with first pitch at 6 p.m. Coverage available on the ACC Network.

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