Griggs Walks It Off in Win Over No. 11 Virginia Tech

Thursday, April 17

Pittsburgh, PA

6 PM EST

Pitt

16-26, 5-14

Virginia Tech

36-6, 14-2

Virginia Tech

Pitt

Action Shot of Team Celebrating Walk Off Win

Griggs Walks It Off in Win Over No. 11 Virginia Tech

4/17/2025 10:53:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Pitt Snaps Virginia Tech’s 17-game Win Streak with 7-6 Walk Off Win in the Ninth Inning

PITTSBURGH – Kylie Griggs hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Pitt over No. 11 Virginia Tech, 7-6, in the series opener at Vartabedian Field, Thursday night. The Panthers ended the Hokies Division I leading 17-game winning streak with the extra inning victory.

The Panthers and Hokies went back-and-forth in the final four frames as both team's defense was on full display. The Panthers had web gems on repeat in the eighth inning as Tieley Vaughn made a jumping catch on a pop up to shallow center field and Camryn Murphy ended the inning on a catch at the wall in right center field to rob the Hokies of extra bases and send the game to the ninth inning.

Pitt got in scoring position in each of the last four innings but left runners stranded after Virginia Tech worked out of the jam each time. Pitt broke through in the bottom of the ninth inning after Desirae Martinez drew a leadoff walk and Ana Hernandez singled to right field. Griggs delivered the walk off single to left field to score Martinez and take the first game of the series.

Gwen Sparks (5-6) earned the win after pitching 4.0 shutout innings of relief, allowing just four hits with three strikeouts and issuing no walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Bekah Duck started the game with a 1-2-3 inning on nine pitches. Duck got down in the count, 3-0, to the leadoff batter and bounced back to retire the top of the Hokie lineup.
Duck retired the first five batters faced before giving up a walk in the top of the second inning. Virginia Tech got on the board first with a two-out double from Kylie Aldridge to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
The Hokies took a 3-0 lead after scoring two runs in the top of the third after a triple from Jordan Lynch.
KK Esparza hit a single through the left side and Griggs hit a double down the left field line to get the Panthers in scoring position. Duck pinch ran for Esparza and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to two runs, 3-1, with one out in the bottom of the third inning.
Murphy capped off a four-run third inning for the Panthers with a three-run home run that cleared the scoreboard to take a 4-3 lead over the Hokies.
Hernandez and Esparza leadoff the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back home runs to take a 6-3 lead.
Virginia Tech worked their way back to tie the game, hitting two solo home runs in the top of the fifth inning and scoring a run in the top of the sixth after Pitt ended the inning on a double play at second and home.
Sparks retired the side in the top of the seventh inning to keep the game tied 6-6 and send the Panthers to bat. The Panthers loaded the bases with one out, but the Hokies turned a double play off an Esparza ground ball to third base to send the game to extras tied 6-6.

YARD WORK
The Panthers have combined to hit 15 home runs over their last five games with KK Esparza (4), Camryn Murphy (3), Kylie Griggs (2), and Shelby Frazier (2) all recording multiple home runs in that span.

Esparza and Murphy have each recorded a home run in the last two consecutive games. Esparza is batting .471 (8-for-17) with four home runs in the last five games while Murphy is batting .467 (7-for-15) with three home runs and nine RBI in that span.

GRIGGS ON FIRE
Kylie Griggs has reached base safely in 12 consecutive games while recording a hit in 11 of those 12 games. Griggs is batting .475 (19-for-40) with seven doubles and four home runs in that 12-game span. The Perrysburg, Ohio native has hit 13 doubles this season, tied for eighth most for a single season in program history.

UP NEXT
Pitt will play a doubleheader tomorrow to wrap up the series with Virginia Tech. The first game will begin at 2 p.m. with the second game starting at 6 p.m. on ACC Network.