When the Virginia Tech softball team was passed as the final National Seed and host for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, they were upset. However, as it turns out, things got complicated when it came to the reasons as to why they didn't host.
In the end, they were sent to the Baton Rouge Regional at LSU, and they still had to feel good about their chances with the Tigers, Akron, and South Alabama in the field. The Hokies drew South Alabama in the first game on Friday and picked up a 6-0 victory. They faced LSU in the Regional semifinal on Saturday afternoon and lost, 8-0, in a game that ended early by the run-rule.
They dropped to the elimination game on Saturday night against Akron, which picked up the program's first NCAA Tournament win with a 1-0 win over South Alabama in an elimination game in eight innings. The MAC champs were playing with house money against the Hokies. It was expected to be a feel-good game for Pete D'Amour's team to get a shot in the Regional final on Sunday against LSU. They needed a miracle to ge there.
Virginia Tech softball pulls off a miracle seventh-inning rally to stun Akron and save its season
Virginia Tech's offense struggled mightily against LSU and was shut out. They were hoping to get another shot at the Tigers on Sunday, but the Zips, who were making their tournament debut, had other ideas.
After the Hokies grabbed a 1-0 lead, Akron plated four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, two more in the fifth, to take a 6-1 lead into the top of the seventh. However, the Zips had a chance to run-rule Virginia Tech with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the sixth. However, freshman Avery Layton struck out the side to give her teammates a fighting chance in the seventh. They took full advantage.
Down to their final three outs, the Hokies scored six runs before Akron recorded an out. Michelle Chatfield launched a two-run home run to cut the deficit to 6-3, before Gaby Mizelle had an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-4. Annika Rohs' RBI single cut the deficit to 6-5 before lead-off batter Addison Foster ripped a two-run double for a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the seventh. Layton worked around an infield single to advance Tech to Sunday's Regional final.
NEVER COUNT US OUT 🦃#Hokies | @DeltaDentalofVA pic.twitter.com/VXuHFFz22m
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) May 17, 2026
Virginia Tech will need to beat LSU twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals next weekend. However, trailing by five runs with three outs left in their season, the Hokies became just the fifth team in 853 chances to rally from a deficit in the NCAA Tournament when trailing by four or more runs entering the seventh inning. They say the last three outs are the hardest to get in a game, and Akron found that out the hard way on Saturday night, ending their historic 2026 season three outs shy of one of the biggest NCAA Tournament wins ever.
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