Virginia Tech Softball Heads To Boston To Wrap Up The Regular Season

Virginia Tech
Mackenzie Lawter and Virginia Tech will play Boston College this weekend. (Virginia Tech sports photography)

The #2 ranked Virginia Tech softball team (36-6, 18-2) heads to Boston this weekend hoping to wrap up the ACC regular season championship. The Hokies need just two wins to clinch their second regular season title in the last three completed seasons (the 2020 season was suspended because of Covid).

Here’s the schedule for the weekend…

Friday, 4:00 pm, ACC Network Extra
Saturday, 1:00 pm, ACC Network Extra
Sunday, 11:00 am, ACC Network

The Hokies are coming off a series sweep of Louisville and have won 25 of their last 28 games. They have won all seven of their ACC series this season, five of them by sweeps (Clemson, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Louisville).

The Eagles (20-24, 6-15) are in desperation mode, currently tied for the tenth and final spot in the ACC tournament. They recorded their biggest win of the season in March with a 2-0 victory in Tallahassee over Florida State when senior Peyton Schnackenberg threw an 8-inning one-hitter against the Noles. However, they have lost four of their last five games, including a 5-1 home loss to Connecticut on Wednesday night.

Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour says the Hokies will approach this series like every other one this season.

“Regardless of who we’ve played this year, our preparation and points of emphasis haven’t changed, “ D’Amour told Techsideline. “Our pitching needs to be a little bit sharper this weekend than the last two weekends, we need to play catch on the infield, and we need to control the strike zone offensively. We worked on all three aspects this week at practice.”

In ACC play, the Hokies lead the conference in batting average (.351), runs (149) and total bases (324). Six of the top 12 hitters in conference play wear orange and maroon, paced by Meredith Slaw (.471), Kelsey Brown (.388), and Darby Trull (.388). Morgan Overaitis, Emma Ritter, and Bre Peck are all hitting .379 in conference.

In the circle, Keely Rochard leads the conference in strikeouts (129 in 83 innings) with Emma Lemley third (76 Ks in 45 innings). Both are tied for second in opponents’ batting average, allowing ACC hitters to hit a mere .185 against them.

Boston College, on the other hand, struggles a bit in both areas. In ACC play, the Eagles are hitting .222 (.257 overall), which is next-to-last in the ACC. They are 8th in conference ERA at 4.79 (3.87 in all games).

Still the Hokies will not be taking them lightly.

“We could be playing the ‘27 Yankees or the local YMCA team this weekend, and we’d prepare the exact same way,” said D’Amour. “Boston College has a pitcher who has been conference pitcher of the week, and they are swinging better than the last time we played them. It should be a fun weekend.”

Below is the Tale of the Tape and Individual Stats.

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