Terps Spoil Softball Senior Day

The Maryland Terrapins capitalized on a fourth inning defensive meltdown, spoiling the beautiful weather and the Virginia Tech softball team's senior day to beat the Hokies 4-1.

Virginia Tech head coach Scot Thomas was disappointed in the lack of focus by the team, "It's not the big plays we are needing to make, its catching and throwing the ball and making the routine plays...it's the simple things. "

The Hokies did seem to play with a distraction, as it was senior day for the team, who celebrated the contributions of six of its players as they prepare to wind down the season.  Senior Jenna Rhodes said, "There are emotions during the game, but we are on a level now that we should be able to block that out and get the job done."

The game started off slowly, with no runs scored in the first inning, followed by Maryland scoring off of a ground ball single in the top of the second. Tech evened the score with a monstrous home run from senior Beth Walker to set up a score of 1-1 heading into the top of the third inning.

Maryland did manage to get the bases loaded while at bat during the third inning, however good defense by the Hokies prevented the Terps from cashing in on its excellent field position. The Hokies offense then had two players put on base due to walks, but no one was able to get a hit to send the runners home.

The fourth inning is the one that will haunt the Hokies the most, as Maryland scored three runs, only one of which was earned. The Hokies defense committed three errors that set up the Terp's offense nicely. According to Thomas, this was the difference maker, "The reality is that the bottom line is Maryland took advantage of our mistakes, and we made several of them."

The rest of the game turned into a defensive struggle as neither team scored, dropping the Hokies to a 23-25 overall record, while putting them at 8-10 in ACC play.  The Hokies will now be the 5 seed in the ACC tournament while the Terps will take the 4 seed as Maryland took the series from the Hokies, winning two of the three games played this weekend.

If the Hokies wish to be considered for the NCAA tournament, they must at least have as many wins as losses. To accomplish this Rhodes said, "I think we need to learn how to finish innings. It seems like we will have one or two bad innings that really put us in a hole. We need to learn to pick ourselves back up if you have an error and finish strong."

The Hokies have five more games before the ACC tournament, with their final home game scheduled to take place at Tech Softball Park against Appalachian State Tuesday night at 7 o'clock.

Aside from being honored during the senior day festivities, Rhodes also broke the Hokies single season hit mark with her 77 and 78 hits of the season. The previous record was 76, held by Kelly Brown.

Rhodes believes that the team will be ready next time they face Maryland, saying, "We are disappointed with the loss, but we get to face them again in the ACC tournament so hopefully we will have a better go at it."  The Hokies have 12 days before the tournament starts, giving them plenty of time to put this stinging loss behind them and prepare for the far more important game.