The Hokies travel to Charlottesville this weekend to open ACC Conference play against the Virginia Cavaliers. These will be the first ACC games played in the Wahoos sparkling new softball stadium, which they opened Tuesday night with a 10-3 loss to James Madison.

The Hokies will be looking to extend their recent string of success against their in-state rivals. Virginia Tech has won the last 7 games in the series and 12 of the last 13. Last year, the Hokies shut out the Hoos in three consecutive games by scores of 8-0. 1-0, and 7-0. The 1-0 win was registered by reigning National Pitcher of the Week Keely Rochard, who gave up a leadoff single and then retired the next 21 batters. That performance is similar to her work this past weekend in Jacksonville , where she allowed just one run, walked two, and struck out 44 in the 30 innings she pitched.

For this season, the Wahoos enter the series with an overall record of 8-9. They are 0-3 in the ACC after losing three games at Clemson last weekend (8-7, 8-4, and 12-3). Their best wins, per Massey rankings, are a 9-2 victory over #137 Tennessee Tech and a 9-7 win over #155 Appalachian State. The Wahoos (who were picked 11th in the ACC preseason coaches’ poll) are currently hitting .273 as a team and are averaging 5 runs per game.

In the other dugout, the Hokies come into this series ranked #19 with a 16-4 record and winners of 11 of their last 12. They are hitting a robust .323 as a team and are averaging 6.8 runs per game. They have six regulars hitting over .300 and that doesn’t count Meredith Slaw, who went 7 for 12 last weekend to raise her season batting average to over .500.

A complete “Tale of the Tape” of the two teams is shown below.

Sophomore Aly Rayle (5-2, 2.86 ERA) is the ace of the Virginia pitching staff; however, she only got one start last weekend at Clemson because of not clearing concussion protocol after being hit in the head on Saturday shagging fly balls. Molly Grube (1-6, 4.26 ERA) has the most starts on the staff with 7. At the plate, the Cavs are led by Sophomores Donna Friedman (.339 average, 13 RBIs) and Tori Gilbert (.309 average, 12 RBIs).

Individual stats are also shown below. The weather forecast looks to be a little chilly (daily highs in the 50s), but little chance of rain.

Let’s Go Hokies!


[Post edited by VTChip at 03/05/2020 12:28AM]