Rochard has been pitching very well all year and especially of late. Today is the first day here ERA is lower than that of Eberle's, as hers increased 0.2 after yesterday's 4th inning.

Run support makes a huge difference....for example in the recent three series you listed, Rochard received run support of 10 and 13 vs Louiville, 12 vs JMU, and 5 for UNC (total of 40 runs in 4 starts)....Eberle received 5 for Louisville, 1 for JMU, and 0 both times vs UNC (total of 6 runs in 4 starts). As any pitcher will tell you, it is much easier to pitch with a lead than a very tight game where you don't have much/any room for error. Most likely this is because Rochard is usually facing the opponent's #2 pitcher or #1 for the second time as in Sunday's first game. VT batters have scored alot of runs early in games all year (except in those games where they have struggled to score period). In any case, Coach D has options for either "ace" as this board seems adamant about naming one. My post is to merely point out that the case isn't an apples to apples comparison even when playing the same teams.....let's hope Rochard keeps rocketing forward and Eberle keeps being the steady high quality she has been for years. Mostly, let's hope our hitters get hot again as we have struggled some since the Lousivlle series against higher quality pitchers.