UPDATED 3/7

After playing the first third of their season either on the road or at neutral sites, the Hokies softball team actually gets to play in the friendly confines of Tech Softball park this weekend as they open ACC play against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Realistically, even the most optimistic Tech fan, including myself, would not have predicted a 16-3 record at this point.

The Hokies have earned that record with a nice combination of both hitting and pitching. The Hokies have outscored their opponents 134 – 57, outhit them .365 to .201, out homered them 27 – 3, and stolen 25 more bases (31 to 6). The Hokies has a team ERA of 2.12 compared to 7.42 for their opponents. Some of those numbers have the Hokies in some ratified air nationally: VT ranks 3rd in D1 in batting average, 7th in slugging percentage, and 14th in scoring.

Nine Hokies, eight of them regular starters, are hitting .300 or better, led by Sophomore Darby Tull at a blistering .490 average. Freshman Kelsey Bennett is making the transition to college look easy, hitting .431 and tied for the team lead in home runs with 6. Leadoff hitter Al Velazquez (sophomore), who transferred from Minnesota, is hitting .381.

Seniors Emma Strouth (.429) and Caitlyn Nolan (.350) are providing the early season power, leading the team in RBIs with 20 and 19 respectively. Strouth is leading the team in hits with 27 and Nolan is tied for the HR lead with 6 and has stolen 4 bases in 4 attempts.

Freshmen Jaime Bailey (1B) and Meredith Slaw (infield/DH) are both hitting .333 and Freshman Maddie Banks (.308) has done an admirable job filing in for the injured Olivia Lattin, who is reportedly out for the year. Senior Lauren Duff has played in 14 games, starting 11, and is hitting .306

Freshman Stacy Kalt has appeared in 12 games and is 7 for 7 in stolen bases, just ahead of Banks who is 6 for 6.

The Hokies pitching success has been well documented - team ERA of 2.12 with 9 shutouts and 13 complete games, AND the only team in the country with TWO 8 game winners. Sophomore Keely Rochard (8-2, 2saves) leads in team in ERA at 1.53 with 76 strikeouts in 59.2 innings. Junior Carrie Eberle (8-1) has a 1.74 ERA with 38 Ks in 56.1 innings. Between the two of them, they have only given up 3 home runs. If there is a concern with the pitching, it is that there doesn’t yet appear to be a reliable third arm.

Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets come to Blacksburg with a 14-8 record after losing games this week to Jacksonville State and Georgia. Prior to those games, Georgia Tech had won 8 games in a row. During this season, they have swept Michigan State (5-12), gone 1-2 in games with Mississippi State (14-5), and went 0-2 versus Illinois (12-4).

The Jackets are hitting .286 as a team, and have outscored their opponents 127 – 111. They have 5 starters hitting .290 or better, led by Sophomore outfielder Breanna Roper, who leads the team in average (.453), hits (34), runs (18), and RBIs (22).

Junior outfielder Crosby Huckabay is hitting .345 with 4 homeruns and Sophomore outfielder Skye Webb is hitting .365. Senior Katie Krzus (.290 average) leads the Jackets in home runs with 7. She led the team in that category last year with 9 for the season. Sophomore Tricia Awald, a transfer from Kennesaw State, is hitting .317 with 5 HRs and 17 RBIs. She led the Owls in hitting last year with a .380 average.

The Jackets’ pitching staff is led by Junior Morgan Bruce, who has started 11 games for the Jackets, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.81 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 72 innings. Control has been a bit of an issue as she also has walked 42. Bruce graduated from Northside High School in Roanoke before choosing to sign with Mississippi (over the Hokies), where she was named to the all SEC Freshman team. However, she only pitched 32 innings as a sophomore and decided to transfer to Georgia Tech, where she has become the ace of the staff.

Statistically, the Hokies look like they have the edge, and the Jackets struggled in their games earlier this week, but games aren't played on paper. The weekend should be a good early season test for the Hokies. I'm excited to see what happens.

Hopefully, the weather cooperates. The revised schedule has a single game scheduled for noon Saturday and a doubeheader Sunday at noon. . Fingers crossed.

Let's Go Hokies





[Post edited by VTChip at 03/08/2019 10:38AM]