Hokies split Tuesday twin bill with Longwood

Eberle, Lattin, Clark post home runs in the victory in the night cap

March 27, 2018

FARMVILLE, Va. - Sophomore Carrie Eberle and junior Olivia Lattin registered multi-hit game and freshman Jordan Dail spun a one-run complete game in the night cap of a doubleheader split with Longwood on Tuesday evening.

Virginia Tech (12-18) dropped the first game to Longwood (18-10), 6-2, but came back to win the second, 5-1.

After starting in the circle in the first game, Eberle went 2 for 3 with her third home run of the season in the nightcap. Lattin also went 2 for 3 with a solo blast and an RBI double, the 26th of her career. Sophomore Taylor Clark opened the scoring with her first home run of the season, one of the three on the game for the Hokies that set a new season-high.

VIRGINIA TECH 5, LONGWOOD 1

With one out in the top of the third, Clark turned on the first pitch she saw in the at-bat and sailed it over the wall in left field, giving the Hokies a 1-0 lead.

Dail allowed her first hit of the game in the bottom of the third with two outs after retiring the first eight Lancers she faced. She bounced back by getting the next batter to fly out to right field.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Eberle sent her third home run of the season well over the left center field fence, extending Tech’s lead to 2-0. The next batter was Mehr who rocketed a liner off the first baseman’s glove and fell into right field. She then stole second with Lattin at the plate, her first of the season, and Lattin drove her home on a double off the wall in left that made it 3-0 Hokies.

Dail went on to retire nine of the next 10 batters she faced in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The Hokies helped her cause by tacking on two insurance runs on a solo home run from Lattin and an RBI single by freshman Sammi Miller that score junior Kinsey Johnson from second. Prior to the top of the seventh, junior Emma Strouth threw a runner out from right field attempting to go from first to third that ended the sixth.

With the Tech lead at 5-0, Dail nearly completed the shutout but a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh made it 5-1. Longwood had a runner on second with two down but Dail got the final batter to strike out looking, her sixth of the night, to end the game.

LONGWOOD 6, VIRGINIA TECH 2

The Lancers scored first on a throw down to second base that got away, allowing the runner on third to score. In the bottom of the third, a two-run RBI single extended Longwood’s lead to 3-0.

Tech got the top of the fourth started with a lead off walk from Schoenewald. She then stole second and came home on a double to left field off the bat of Walton. After pinch runner Whitney Metz stole third, Jones delivered with a long fly out to left that scored Metz and cut the Hokies’ deficit to one, 3-2.

The one run lead for Longwood wouldn’t last for long though as the Lancers plated three runs in the home half of the fifth, extending their lead to 6-2.

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