BLACKSBURG - A spirited rally turned to stunning silence after a good start to the day as the 19^th-ranked Virginia Tech softball team split a pair of games with Longwood University Wednesday evening at Tech Softball Park. The Hokies won the first game 2-0 behind a combined one-hitter, but dropped the second game 5-4 in eight innings.

In the first game, Tech managed just four hits, but a two-RBI single from Misty Hall in the first inning would be enough as Heather Lowry pitched one of her best games of the year.

Lowry (W, 6-2) went 5.0 strong innings, giving up just one hit with five strikeouts. Angela Tincher pitched the final two innings, collecting six strikeouts to record her second save of the year.

Jenna Rhodes, Erin Ota, Hall and Caroline Stolle had the only hits in the game.

The second game took a turn for the worse quickly as Kenzie Roark gave up four earned runs before head coach Scot Thomas could get Tincher back in the game in the first inning. Trailing 4-0, Hall finally got the Hokies on the board with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.

Tech got a rally going in the sixth and Hall came through with the big hit once again. With the bases loaded, the sophomore ripped a bases-clearing triple to the gap to tie the game up with no one out. Head coach Scot Thomas then tried a suicide squeeze, but Beth Walker squared early to draw the first baseman in and Hall got a bad jump, adding up to an easy out at the plate on the bunt attempt.

The game went to the Tiebreaker Rule in the eighth inning, which was the only way Longwood could get anybody on against Tincher. A sacrifice bunt moved pinch runner Brittany Spencer to third base and Caitlin Hooe bunted over Mariconda's head and just inside the line to give the Lancers the lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Hokies loaded the bases with just one out to get the crowd into it. But Stolle whiffed on a 3-2 changeup to bring up Rhodes for one last chance. Rhodes slapped a slow roller, but shortstop Ryan Washington threw home for the force out instead of opting for a likely late throw to first base, getting Jessica Everhart by a step to end the game.

Once again, Tech's bats struggled, collecting only four hits, one each Ota, Mariconda, Kelsey Hoffman and Hall. Hall had four RBI in the game and drove in six runs in the two games to basically account for all of the Hokies' offense on the day.

Roark lasted just 0.2 innings as she gave up four runs on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Tincher (L, 20-5) was on the wrong end of the Tiebreaker Rule, which greatly benefited a Longwood team that didn't touch her for over six innings. She went 7.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit with 16 strikeouts.

Tincher had 22 punchouts on the day and now sits with 376 for the year and needs just 154 more for 2,000 for her career with 16 regular season games left on the docket.

The Hokies (29-11, 10-2 ACC) will look to pick themselves up by their bootstraps this weekend at Boston College (20-21, 2-7 ACC) in a big three-game ACC series. The two are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 1 p.m., on Saturday and a single game Sunday at 1 o'clock, although with rain in the forecast, the schedule could change. Be sure to check hokiesports.com for all the latest on the weekend.