With high expectations, No. 11 Virginia Tech travels to Wilmington this weekend to kickoff the 2023 season.
The Hokies are scheduled to play both East Carolina and UNC Wilmington twice with a single game against Purdue Fort Wayne. Rain is forecasted all weekend, however, so the schedule has been adjusted to begin play on Thursday instead of Friday.
The good news is that Boseman Field has artificial turf; a news article from the Wilmington Star in 2014 states that “the new field is designed to drain up to 400 inches of rain.”
Here is the five-game schedule for Virginia Tech. None of the games are televised.
Thursday: 5 p.m., East Carolina
Thursday: 7 p.m., UNC Wilmington
Friday: 11:30 a.m., UNC Wilmington
Friday: 4:30 p.m., East Carolina
Saturday: 10 a.m., Purdue Fort Wayne
The weekend should provide Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour the opportunity to see some of his newcomers in action and a chance to experiment with various lineup combinations.
“Here we go,” D’Amour said to Tech Sideline, “another first weekend of the year. We’re looking forward to getting on the field and facing some outside competition. Hopefully the weather cooperates.”
Here is an overview of the Hokies’ opponents:
East Carolina
Picked to finish sixth in the AAC, East Carolina had a 20-36 record last season. The team is paced by junior infielder Jocelyn Alonso, who led the Pirates in hitting last year (.348), along with All-AAC outfielder Taudrea Sinni, who hit .366 in conference play and ended the year on a 10-game hit streak.
Senior Madison Davis (7-5, 3.45 ERA) returns to anchor the ECU staff. She was the only Pirate hurler with an ERA below five in 2022.
The Pirates added four transfers during the offseason, including redshirt sophomore Taylor Edwards from UCLA (.278 average in 21 games), infielder Jayce Chamberlain from NC State, pitcher Payton Hudson from Louisville and catcher Dafne Mercado from Memphis.
ECU is coached by Shane Winkler, who is in his second season at the program. Winkler previously had successful stints at George Washington and Charleston Southern.
Purdue Fort Wayne
A member of the Horizon League, Purdue Fort Wayne finished 7-42 last season, 6-20 in the conference. The Mastodons, which ended 2022 on a 12-game losing streak, recorded their only non-conference win against Radford in February.
They are led at the plate by junior infielder Brooke Wintlend, who hit .252 last season and led the Dons in HRs with seven.
Purdue Fort Wayne lost three of its five pitchers from last season to graduation. Sophomores Alyson Quinlan (4.49 ERA, 30 Ks in 39 innings) and Gracie Brinkerhoff (9.24 ERA, 11 Ks in 31 innings) are the two returning hurlers.
Amber Bowman is in her second season at Purdue Fort Wayne. She was previously the head coach at Davenport (two years) and Rio Grande (one year) after she was an assistant with the Mastodons from 2016-19.
UNC Wilmington
The biggest challenge to the Hokies this weekend will be the host school, UNC Wilmington.The Seahawks earned their first NCAA bid last season (32-15) by winning the CAA Championship and were picked by the league coaches to repeat this season.
"We are honored to be ranked as the preseason favorite by our conference opponents," first-year head coach Ashley Wade said. "This experienced core group provides a strong foundation for us to build off for this year. … The bulk of this group has had a taste of NCAA Regionals. They are hungry for more and our new players are excited to make their mark.”
UNC Wilmington returns eight players that started over 25 games last season, including an impressive 1-2 punch in the circle that finished with the two lowest ERAs in the CAA in 2022. Sophomore Emily Winstead (13-10, 2.05 ERA) was the CAA Pitcher of the Year and sophomore Kara Hammock (12-3, 1.92 ERA) was the CAA Freshman of the Year.
Offensively, the Seahawks averaged over 4.4 runs per game and return their top nine hitters, including Janel Gamacha (.347), Tayler Vitola (.322) and Mackenzie Amodeo (.303). Amodeo was named Preseason CAA First Team catcher while sophomore outfielder Arial Pierce (.289) was named to the second team.
UNCW loves to run, swiping 110 bases last season over 47 games, an average of 2.34 that ranked third in the country.
Wade was hired in August to replace former coach Kristy Norton, who resigned after 10 years. Wade spent the previous seven seasons on the staff at Northern Illinois.
Here is the tale of the tape for the weekend:
