BLACKSBURG, Va. — Notre Dame Softball (25-12, 16-10 ACC) won its third-straight game over No. 15/13 Virginia Tech (28-10, 19-10 ACC) with a 4-3, nine-inning victory Saturday to secure the series win. Senior Alexis Holloway improved to 12-6 in the circle with a complete game, totaling six strikeouts and homering in the seventh inning to send the Irish to extras.
Notre Dame has won its fourth ACC series of the season and its eighth-straight game, as well as its 97th victory over a Top-25 team since 1994. Saturday’s game marked the first extra-inning game for the Irish since April 20, 2019 at Virginia (W, 14-10, nine innings).
The Irish trailed throughout the game, and a pair of solo home runs made the difference for Notre Dame, as Holloway homered in the seventh to tie the game at 3-3, and senior Sarah Genz scored in the ninth inning with a solo home run, her first home run of the season, for the deciding run in the 4-3 game.
Holloway pitched nine full innings, allowing just one earned run and hurling six strikeouts. In less than 24 hours, Holloway has pitched 16.0 innings with 11 strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs in total.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams were quiet through the first two innings, as Holloway threw three strikeouts. In the first inning, Marino walked and stole second, reaching third on an error, but was stranded on base. In the second, the Irish stranded a Virginia Tech runner on base to keep the Hokies scoreless.
Notre Dame went down in order in the third, and in the bottom of the inning, the Hokies led off with a double. The runner reached third on a sac bunt. The next batter delivered a bunt single to score a run, and a throwing error allowed the batter to round the bases and score, putting Virginia Tech up 2-0. After a groundout, Holloway later delivered another strikeout to end the inning and limit the damage.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, and in the fifth, sophomore Leea Hanks led off with a single. A sac bunt from Genz pushed Hanks to third, and on Holloway’s at-bat, Hanks stole third. The Hokies committed an error when attempting to throw Hanks out, and Hanks sped home to cut the lead in half. Virginia Tech was unable to score in the fifth, thanks in part to an impressive lineout grab from graduate student Chelsea Purcell.
In the sixth, senior Abby Sweet drew a one-out walk, and reached second on a single from junior Emma Clark. When attempting to throw Clark out, the Hokies committed another error, pushing Sweet to third. Marino then delivered a single to score Sweet and tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Hokies delivered an RBI single with two runners on base to go up 3-2 on the Irish.
In the top of the seventh, Holloway sent a solo home run off the outfield scoreboard to tie it up 3-3, and the Irish kept the Hokies at bay in the bottom of the inning to go to extras.
Sweet led off the eighth with a walk, reaching second on a Clark sac bunt, but was left on base to end the inning. Virginia Tech started off strong with a one-out double, and the next batter walked to put two runners on base. A flyout to Sweet and popup to Purcell ended the inning and kept the Hokies from scoring.
With one out in the ninth, Genz stepped up to the plate and took the first pitch for a home run, her first one of the season, to take the first Irish lead of the game. The inning ended with a 4-3 Notre Dame advantage, and Holloway and the defense went back to the field.
The first batter grounded out to Purcell, and after a single, Marino grabbed a quick lineout, dishing to Genz at first for the double play to seal the 4-3 victory.
UP NEXT
The series finale will take place at Noon ET on Sunday at Tech Softball Park. The game will be broadcast on ACCNX.