Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Heidi Miller, who was shot April 16, was one of more than 5,300 people attending the game Tuesday. "You take each day one at a time," she said.

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (center) tells baseball stories to Virginia Tech players during the game.

BLACKSBURG -- Mike Pohle was a Philadelphia Phillies fan. When he first met ardent New York Yankees fan and fellow Virginia Tech student Marcy Crevonis, they bickered about baseball.

Pohle was one of the 32 victims killed in the April 16 shootings.

Crevonis, who was his fiancee, was among the excited fans at English Field Tuesday when the Yankees played the Hokies in an exhibition that was arranged in the wake of the shootings.

But first, she went to the campus memorial, and waited with about 100 other fans for the Yankees to come by to pay their respects.

"I want to see them go by Mike's stone," said Crevonis, a sophomore from McLean, Va..

She placed a Derek Jeter jersey next to Pohle's stone. Pohle, who was from New Jersey, liked the Yankees' star shortstop even though Pohle was a Phillies fan.

Crevonis not only wore a Yankee hat but also a T-shirt she made. It had Pohle's name and "New York Yankees in Blacksburg" on the front. Pohle's photo was on the back, along with the date he was killed.

When Jeter stopped near Pohle's stone, she got him to take a photo with her. She also got Jeter, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and a few other Yankees to sign the back of her T-shirt.

It was the greatest moment in her life, she said later.

After the Yankees left the memorial, Crevonis picked up her Jeter jersey, and kissed Pohle's stone.

"It means the world to me that they took the time out of their busy days to come to Tech," she said. "I love the Yankees, but if I could trade the Yankees' not coming for Mike, obviously I would do that.

"So it's a bittersweet day. But it's a good day. The Yankees are here."

The Yankees won the seven-inning game 11-0 in front of 5,311 fans and almost 100 media members, including those from ESPN and CNN.

"Arguably this is the most important game I've played in my Yankee career because it makes you realize all the important things about life," said Rodriguez, who spent part of the game in the Virginia Tech dugout autographing baseballs. "To come here to Virginia Tech and kind of unite with them for one day is very important.

"This is probably the proudest day I've ever been to wear a Yankee uniform."

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said visiting the memorial "brought tears to my eyes." He was moved even more during the game when, as he briefly went up in the stands to sit next to Tech football coach Frank Beamer, the sister of someone who was killed in the shootings thanked him for coming.

"That really hit me hard," he said.

Last May, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner donated $1 million to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund and offered to play an exhibition game at Tech.

Tech student Derek O'Dell, who was shot April 16, was among the crowd that watched the game on a chilly afternoon.

"It's a little bit bittersweet that this is happening, but it's nice that the Yankees and Virginia Tech have put this together," said O'Dell, a Cave Spring High School graduate who was among about 1,000 invited special guests.

Tech student Heidi Miller, who also was shot April 16, attended the game as well.

"You take each day one at a time. Today, this is something that's really neat that they're doing," said Miller, of Harrisonburg.

"It's a good time, but I think in the back of everyone's mind, we know why we're here."

While Crevonis, O'Dell and Miller got their tickets from the Tech recovery office, 14,455 Tech students entered a lottery for 3,000 tickets. There was a second lottery in which 2,269 members of the Tech faculty and staff applied for the 1,000 tickets available to them. The game was not open to the general public.

Tech junior Matt Powell of Falls Church, Va., said he was ecstatic to win a ticket in the lottery.

"I grew up a Yankees fan, so it means everything to me," Powell, wearing a Yankees pinstripe jersey, said as he watched the game.

Tech freshman and Yankees fan Amanda Wilson didn't come up a winner in the lottery, but her boyfriend gave her his ticket.

Her bank account "would be zero," if he hadn't, Wilson said. Tech students said some of their peers paid as much as $200 for other students' tickets.

This, Wilson said at the memorial, was the best day of her life.

Yankee players signed autographs for fans during batting practice at English Field.

"I love you, Jeter!" shouted Yankees fan Kimberly McCarthy, a sophomore from Vienna, Va., as she leaned over a railing.

McCarthy got autographs from Jeter and designated hitter Jason Giambi.

"It's the nicest thing they could ever do for us," she said of the visit.

The Tech baseball players also got autographs. They stood behind the batting cage, holding pens and baseballs as the Yankees took batting practice.

Sean Ryan "felt like a kid again" as he asked for autographs. He later started in center field for the Hokies.

"If the opportunity comes, I'll run through a wall -- maybe get on ESPN," he said.

Andrew Wells, who was Tech's starting pitcher, said the game was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Last April 20, the Tech baseball team lost to Miami in the first Tech home athletic event after the shootings.

Ex-Hokie Nate Parks played in that game. On Tuesday, the Glenvar High School and Tech graduate returned to watch this game from the stands.

"It's like America's team, coming to Blacksburg," he said. "We're still healing, but we're able to get past it. We're able to move on."

The Yankees wore maroon "NY" hats during batting practice, while the Hokies wore maroon pinstripe uniforms for the game. Two "NY" logos were painted on the field.

"I had a great time," Giambi said after the game. "We were honored to be here."