There's a lot going on with spring sports right now at Virginia Tech. Here's an update.
Women's Golf: The women's golf team made their first NCAA regional in the short three-year history of the program, and they finished 10th in the 18-team field at the Austin (TX) regional. Only six teams advance, so the Hokies are done for the year, but the experience was critical for the young program, and they will score points for Virginia Tech in the Director's Cup rankings.
The Hokies were very competitive in the first two rounds of the three-round competition, shooting 288 (par) and 293 (+5) in the first two days, but they slid to 307 (+19) on day three and finished +24 for the tournament, 18 strokes out of 6th place with a total of 888.
For more details on how individual golfers did, click here.
Women's Lacrosse: Much like the women's golf team, the Hokies lacrosse team will be making their debut in the NCAA championships. Two years ago, at the end of the 2016 season, the Hokies were losers of 27 straight ACC games. They hired John Sung to coach the program, and two years later, they set a second consecutive program record for wins (13-6), and on Sunday, they found out they made the 27-team NCAA bracket.
The lacrosse team will start play in the NCAAs against Georgetown on Friday afternoon at 3 PM, in Raleigh, NC. For information on the NCAA Division 1 Women's Lacrosse Championship, click here, and for the story of Virginia Tech's remarkable turnaround under Sung, click here for an article by Jimmy Robertson.
Track and Field: The ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin Thursday morning in Miami, and will take place over three days. Virginia Tech is the defending champion on both the men's and women's sides.
Of note: the ACC Championships aren't all that's at stake here. If either VT team (men's or women's) finishes ahead of their counterparts from the University of Virginia, the Hokies will win the all-sports Commonwealth Clash for the second year in a row. Given that Virginia has such a strong all-around athletics program, a second-straight Commonwealth Clash victory would represent a noteworthy achievement.
For the Commonwealth Clash standings, click here, and for all kinds of information on the ACC Championships, how they're structured, and where to watch, click here and click here.
Softball: The Virginia Tech softball team is the No. 10 seed in the 10-team ACC Tournament, and on Wednesday, they knocked off No. 7 seed Duke 4-0. The Hokies (23-29, 7-16 ACC regular season) advance to face No. 2 seed Pittsburgh (31-17-1, 16-6 ACC) on Thursday at 5 PM. The game will be televised on regional sports networks and on the WatchESPN platform.
For more details on the victory over Duke, click here.
Baseball: The Hokie baseball team traveled to Morgantown Wednesday and lost to West Virginia 10-5 in a game that was an uphill battle all the way. WVU led 7-0 after three innings, and the Hokies never got closer than 8-5 in the 7th inning, eventually giving up two more runs for the loss.
Virginia Tech will host Miami for a three game series this weekend (May 11-13), and the weather should be pretty good. Highs will be in the mid-80s, with a slight chance of rain each day.