The Virginia Tech softball team had the best possible start to the 2026 season as head coach Pete D'Amour could have hoped for last weekend at South Carolina. The Hokies went in and won all five games, including two over the Gamecocks, to send an early statement after beginning the season with so many questions after a lot of losses to graduation a year ago.
Those wins moved the Hokies into a top 20 team in some polls. However, the second weekend of the season began on Friday in Charlotte for the Queen City Classic. This was going to be a weekend where Virginia Tech was going to be tested by some schools, including Michigan State out of the Big Ten. After winning their opener on Friday morning against Villanova, the Hokies suffered their first setback of the season against the Spartans in the nightcap.
Virginia Tech suffers first loss to Michigan State
It is going to be another weekend of five games for Virginia Tech, and it began with a 7-3 win over Villanova. Emma Mazzarone picked up the win, going four hitless innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. Offensively, Zoe Yaeger hit two home runs, and Nora Abromavage added one.
In the second game, the Hokies suffered their first loss after Michigan rallied from a 3-0 deficit with six runs in the bottom of the second and held off a late Virginia Tech rally for a 7-6 win. Rachel Castine hit two home runs for the Hokies, and Rachel Castine added a two-run shot. Addison Foster and Kylie Aldridge each had a pair of hits, and Bree Carrico was strong in relief, scattering five hits and allowing one run and striking out six.
Virginia Tech will return to the field on Saturday for games against Villanova and Charlotte, before closing out the weekend with a rematch against Michigan State on Sunday morning.