Virginia Tech softball season comes to a stunning end in the NCAA Tournament

Things were looking good for the Virginia Tech softball team through the first 13 and a half innings in the NCAA Tournament in the Los Angeles Regional. The Hokies beat San Diego State, 5-1, in the opener Friday night, then Saturday afternoon, they broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the seventh with a run to take a one-run lead and were three outs away from stunning the host UCLA Bruins and put themselves one win away from a spot in the Super Regionals next weekend.

And then disaster struck.

UCLA plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a walk, double, and single for a 7-6 win to send the Hokies into the loser's bracket of the double-elimination tourney Saturday night. In a game that started after midnight back on the East Coast, Virginia Tech saw their season coming to a stunning end with a 4-1 loss to Grand Canyon, to send the Lopes to face UCLA in the Regional Final Sunday, needing to beat the Bruins twice to advance.

Grand Canyon beats Virginia Tech for second time in 2024

Grand Canyon scored two runs in the bottom of the first, then another in the fourth for a 3-0 lead before Virginia Tech got on the board in the top of the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Addy Greene that scored Annika Rohs. Freshman Emma Mazzarone pitched well in the circle for the Hokies, but her offense struggled against Grand Canyon, which beat Tech, 11-2, back in February.

It was a frustrating way to end the season for a team that looked like it was going to make a deep postseason run, but they struggled down the stretch in the regular season, then were beaten 6-2 by Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.