No. 8 Virginia Tech Softball Faces Huge Challenges in Clearwater

Fresh off a successful opening weekend, No. 8 Virginia Tech heads to Florida this weekend for the TaxAct Clearwater Invitational. Awaiting the Hokies is a gauntlet of top competition that includes three teams that made it to last year’s Women’s College World Series. Two of those three – UCLA and Oklahoma State – are ranked in the top five.

Here is the Hokies’ schedule and broadcast information:

Fri., Feb. 17: 10 a.m., No. 5 Oklahoma State, ESPNU
Fri., Feb. 17: 4 p.m., Nebraska, ACC Network
Sat., Feb. 18: 4 p.m., No. 2 UCLA, ESPNU
Sat., Feb. 18: 7 p.m., No. 10 Arizona, ESPN+
Sun., Feb. 19: 10 a.m., USF, ESPN+

“We’re looking forward to the Clearwater tournament,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “It’s another opportunity to see where we stack up against some of the best teams in the country. We’re going to see really good pitching and we’re going to face really good offenses. All of this will prepare us in a couple of weeks when we start ACC play.” 

Here is an overview of the teams that the Hokies will face:

Oklahoma State (4-1)

Oklahoma State made the Women’s College World Series three of the last four years and head coach Kenny Gajewski described this year’s group as “the deepest team we’ve ever had.”

The Cowgirls opened the season in the Puerto Vallarta Challenge in Mexico with wins over Oregon (3-0), North Carolina (3-2) and Old Miss (3-0). However, they were upset by Maryland (11-6) when two Cowgirl errors led to five unearned runs for the Terps. They open play in Clearwater on Thursday against Texas A&M and Nebraska, so they will have two games in hand before they play the Hokies.

Oklahoma State has one of the best pitching staffs in the country, led by Kelly Maxwell. The redshirt senior was a unanimous first team All-American selection last season after posting a 21-5 record (12 shutouts) with 313 strikeouts in 189.2 innings. She was named D1 Softball’s National Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday after posting two wins, 13 shutout innings and 23 strikeouts in Mexico.

The Cowgirls landed Maxwell some help in the circle during the off-season with senior Lexi Kilfoyl transferring from Alabama. Kilfoyl, who shut out Virginia Tech in Tuscaloosa last February, won 28 games in her Crimson Tide career, striking out 267 batters in 244 innings. Former Hokie Ivy Rosenberry also transferred to Oklahoma State, but the Winchester, Va. native was victimized by the Cowgirl errors against Maryland.

At the plate, the Cowgirls lost four of their top five hitters from last season, yet they still have some firepower. Freshman outfielder Talon Edwards showed last weekend why she was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in her class, hitting .538 (7-for-13) in her college debut and leading the Cowgirls with five RBI.

Graduate student Rachel Becker was effective at the leadoff spot, hitting .444 and drawing six walks. Redshirt freshman Micaela Wark (.375) and graduate student Kiley Naomi (.333) also had good weekends.

Nebraska (4-1)

The Hokies face Nebraska in Friday’s second game. The Cornhuskers venture to Clearwater with a 4-1 record after only allowing a single run in their five games at the Houston Invitational last weekend. Ironically, that single run, a home run in the first inning, gave them their first loss of the season at the hands of South Dakota State (1-0).

Nebraska recorded shutout wins over Lamar (8-0 and 7-0), Houston (7-0) and Virginia (2-0). It received votes in both major polls, too, and is No. 23 in Extra Innings Softball’s rankings.

Senior right-hander Courtney Wallace was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Monday after posting a 3-0 record with three shutouts last weekend. Wallace gave up only 12 hits in 19.0 innings and struck out 14. She did not allow an extra-base hit and limited opposing hitters to a paltry .174 average.

Wallace also started the season hot at the plate, hitting .438 for the opening weekend. She was one of three Cornhuskers who hit over .400 for the weekend, joining outfielder Caitlyn Neal (.455) and shortstop Billie Andrews (.412). As a team, Nebraska hit .308 for the opening weekend, similar to its .310 average last season when it won the Big Ten title.

UCLA (7-0)

The Bruins, who Virginia Tech faces in its third game of the weekend, completely dominated their first weekend of the season, outscoring their first six opponents by a combined score of 59-3. This includes two wins over both CSU Bakersfield (18-1 and 8-0) and San Diego (14-0 and 5-2), along with victories over Cal State Fullerton (3-0) and Loyola Marymount (11-0).

UCLA’s first real test of the season was Tuesday night when Liberty hung tough in Los Angeles before falling 3-2.

Redshirt junior Maya Brady was named D1 Softball’s National Player of the Week after going 13-for-16 during the opening weekend with 13 RBIs and four home runs. History indicates her performance was not a fluke as she batted .339 last season with 15 home runs and 53 RBIs. In 2022, she was named a NFCA First Team All-American and named to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team after hitting .438 and homering twice against Oklahoma.

But Brady has plenty of help with an offense that averages 8.9 runs per game and hits .404. Five Bruin regulars are averaging .333 or better, including three true freshmen: Jordan Woolery (.471), Kennedy Powell (.462) and Megan Grant (.333). It appears the Bruins won’t see much of a drop from their .320 average and 6.25 runs/game from last year’s team.   

In the circle, Megan Faraimo is back for her redshirt senior season, and she’s dominated so far.. The reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, who won 24 games last season, threw three complete games in her three starts, has an ERA of 0.67 and struck out 38 batters in 21 innings. Hokie fans may remember Faraimo from the 2021 Super Regionals when she shut out VT 2-0 in game two of the series.

Oregon transfer Brooke Yanez, who posted a 1.97 ERA, a 31-7 record and 362 strikeouts in 245.0 innings in two seasons in Eugene, provides another option for Bruin head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. During their opening weekend, Yanez did not allow an earned run in 10.2 innings and struck out 16.

If that’s not enough, freshman Taylor Tinsley threw a five-inning no-hitter against CSU Bakersfield on Friday. Faraimo followed that performance up with a no-hitter of her own vs. San Diego.

Arizona (5-0)

Immediately after battling UCLA on Saturday, the Hokies will face another Women’s College World Series participant, Arizona. The tournament schedule has the Wildcats playing Florida State on Thursday and Texas A&M and Mississippi State on Friday, but their matchup with Virginia Tech is their only Saturday contest. A rested Arizona team against a Hokie squad that just battled UCLA might be an advantage for the Wildcats.

Arizona hosted its own tournament last week, but wasn’t very accommodating as a host, run-ruling all five opponents by a cumulative score of 63-6. The Wildcats beat Long Beach State by identical 9-1 scores, Kansas by a 15-2 margin and NC State by duplicate scores of 15-1.

Because of that offensive explosion, the Wildcats currently lead the country in batting average (.520) and are second in runs per game (12.6). However, they hit .319 last season and averaged 5.93 runs per game, so the first weekend offense isn’t exactly an anomaly. 

Arizona doesn’t appear to be overly deep – only 11 players started two or more games. But the starters produced – all 11 batted .300 or better, led by junior outfielder Jasmin Perezchica (.750) and freshman catcher/designated player Olivia DiNardo (.625).

Junior pitcher Devyn Netz started (and got the win) in three of the Wildcats games. She has an ERA of 1.27 and struck out 10 batters in 11 innings.

USF (2-3)

The final contest of the weekend for Virginia Tech is a Sunday affair with USF. The Bulls were 45-16 last season behind three-time All-American Georgia Corrick. She was first pitcher in NCAA history to claim the Triple Crown after leading D-I in wins (37), strikeouts (418) and ERA (0.51).

USF went 2-3 during its opening weekend with wins over Michigan (2-1) and Saint Joseph’s (4-0). It lost both games against Boston College (4-2 and 5-4) and one vs. Boston University (8-0).

The Bulls struggled at the plate, scoring only 12 runs in the five games while hitting .195. They had three regulars average over .385: Emilee Hanlon (.500), Lydia Castro (.400) and Meghan Sheehan (.385). However, the rest of the team struggled.

Redshirt freshman Payton Dixon started in the circle for the Bulls in two games, pitching 14 innings without giving up an earned run, including six against Michigan.

Final Thoughts

This may be the toughest three days ever for Virginia Tech softball. Wilmington was an excellent start to the season, but the competition ramps up significantly in Florida. It will be interesting to see how the Hokies stack up against some of the nation’s best.

When Virginia Tech last played in Clearwater (2020), it went 3-2 with wins over three ranked teams. A repeat performance would put the Hokies in an excellent position for the rest of the season, but regardless of the outcome, these games should pay long term dividends for the Hokies.

D’Amour has regularly said that he wants to schedule so that the Hokies RPI is “as high as possible,” and he has done just that.

“We could go 0-5 and our RPI would still be pretty good,” D’Amour told Mark Packer on the ACC Network on Monday, “[but if] you go 5-0, you’re talking about hosting regionals and super regionals.”

“We are just trying to put ourselves in a good position in May, and by having a good weekend this weekend and next weekend, we can do just that.”

Here’s the tale of the tape for the weekend: