BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech pitching duo of Kelly Heinz and Maggie Tyler overwhelmed Longwood at the plate all afternoon.

Heinz pitched a no-hitter in leading the 24th-ranked Hokies to an 11-0 win in five innings over the Lancers. The no-hitter from Heinz was the first no-hitter tossed against the Lancers since April 15, 2012 against then-No. 12 Louisville. In the second game, Tyler was nearly as dominant, allowing just two Longwood (10-17) hits while striking out 11 in a 1-0 Virginia Tech win.

For the afternoon, Virginia Tech (24-6) pitching allowed just four base runners on two hits, while notching 17 total strikeouts.

"It seemed from judging our preparation in pregame that we came out flat and we didn't recognize that we were flat," said head coach Kathy Riley. "Once you come out flat, it's really hard to play yourself out of it."

In the second game, Elizabeth McCarthy recorded her second straight quality start, giving up just one run on five Virginia Tech hits and striking out five Hokie batters. Her performance comes on the heels of an impressive win 8-3 win Saturday in which she matched her career-high 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings.

Wednesday's matchup marked the fourth ranked squad this season that the Lancers have faced, as Longwood has already faced ranked foes California, NC State and Missouri. In the first RPI rankings of the season, the Lancers have played 11 games against teams among the top 50.

Up next, the Lancers will host a key Big South series against Presbyterian at Lancer Field March 28-29. The two squads will play a doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday's series finale is also scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

"We've had a really busy schedule over the past couple of weeks," Riley said. "We're going to take tomorrow off and really look to get fresh before we play a good hitting Presbyterian team this weekend."

Virginia Tech 11, Longwood 0 (5)
Virginia Tech's Kelly Heinz notched a no-hitter in the first game of the day Wednesday, as the Hokies earned an 11-0 victory in five innings of play.

"We came out in the first game not ready from pitch one," Riley said. "We believe philosophically that the game starts with pitching and we didn't pitch the ball very well. Pitching really hurt us in terms of just allowing us to be in the game."

Pitching was not an issue for Virginia Tech, as Heinz (8-0) was brilliant in the circle, allowing just two base runners in the first game Longwood has been no-hit since April 15, 2012 against then-No. 12 Louisville. The Virginia Tech right-hander picked up her eighth straight victory to open the campaign, allowing a single walk and striking out six Longwood batters.

Heinz was perfect for 3.2 innings, until Megan Baltzell was hit by a 3-2 offering from Heinz in the top of the fourth inning and reached base for the 10th straight game. The Hokie right-hander got out 15 of the 17 batters she faced and threw just 67 pitches to complete the no-hitter.

The performance from Heinz marked the third time in the past five games that an opposing pitcher has taken a no-hit bid into the fifth inning against the Lancers. Coastal Carolina's Kiana Quolas took a no-hitter into the fifth in Longwood's 9-8 victory in the series finale over the Chanticleers, while Sara Allen of Winthrop also took a no-hit bid into the fifth inning of Friday's 4-2 loss in Rock Hill, S.C.

Libby Morris (4-7) took the loss, giving up 11 runs, including eight earned, on eight hits and five walks. The senior fanned three Virginia Tech batters and took her second loss in her past three games.

Breanna Davenport singled to lead off the home half of the first inning for Virginia Tech, before coming around to score on an RBI ground out from Katey Smith to make it 1-0 in favor of the Hokies.

The Hokies added three runs an inning later thanks in part to four walks issued from Morris. Vanessa Gonzalez led off the inning with a solo home run to left field, before Morris issued a pair of walks to two of the next three batters. Davenport notched her second hit of the day with one out to bring home Ashley Kowalski. The Hokies added their final run of the inning off a bases loaded walk drawn by Katey Smith to bring home Bailey Liddle.

Longwood struggled to find a rhythm at the plate, as Heinz struck out five of Longwood's batters the first time through the order. Baltzell was hit by a 3-2 pitch with two out and became the first Longwood base runner. It extended her streak of reaching base safely to 10 consecutive games. Chelsea Sciacca came back from an 0-2 count to work a two-out walk, but Glenn Walters struck out swinging to end the threat.

Virginia Tech continued to take advantage of Longwood's miscues, as the Hokies scored seven runs on five hits and two Longwood errors to put the game out of reach, 11-0. The inning was highlighted by a pair of two RBI hits from Smith and Gonzalez.

Heinz came back on for the fifth looking to complete the dominant performance, as she was able to get a ground out along with a pair of fly outs to seal the victory and the no-hitter.

Virginia Tech 1, Longwood 0
The second game of the afternoon featured a pitcher's dual between Longwood's Elizabeth McCarthy and Virginia Tech's Maggie Tyler. The two pitchers combined to give up just one run off seven hits. Unfortunately for McCarthy and the Lancers, it was the Hokies who prevailed, 1-0, for their second shutout of the afternoon.

"I thought Maggie did a really great job for them in that second game, but I think Biz did an equally as nice of a job."

Tyler posted the second straight dominant effort in the circle for Virginia Tech, allowing just two hits while posting 11 strikeouts on 86 pitches thrown. She went the whole way to pick up her 11th victory of the season and improve to 11-5.

McCarthy (6-7) recorded her second straight quality start, giving up just one run on five Virginia Tech hits and striking out five Hokie batters. Her performance comes on the heels of an impressive win 8-3 win Saturday in which she matched her career-high 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings.

"I thought she threw pretty well today," Riley said. "I thought she kept them off balance and had really good command of her pitches."

After giving up the game's lone run in the second inning, McCarthy was able to respond to give the Lancer offense a chance by shutting down a Virginia Tech offense that came into the day ranked third in the ACC in runs scored and second in slugging percentage.

The game's lone run came in the second inning. Gonzalez reached base with a two-out single through the left side, before Jessie Mehr hit a 2-2 offering from McCarthy to the wall in left center to record a two-out RBI double.

"The one pitch, she actually threw it at the right location, but it was the wrong call for that hitter," Riley said. "We threw a drop ball inside to her and in hindsight you'd like to go back and make another call that could've been more effective against her swing path."

From there, McCarthy and Tyler sent down the nine of the next 10 batters, as Carly Adams was the only player to reach base in that stretch with a single to left center field. The hit from Adams was the only base hit for the squad until Kelsey Sweeney delivered a one-out single in the seventh to extend the game.

The Hokies threatened to score in the home half of the fourth inning after a Michelle Prong single and a double from Gonzalez. However, McCarthy was able to get Mehr to foul out to Baltzell after a 10-pitch at-bat.

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