No. 10 Virginia Tech (7-3) travels to Austin, Texas for the Lone Star State Invitational. The Hokies will play five games against Texas-based Universities, including a pair of contests against No. 9 Texas. They’ll also face Abilene Christian twice and Texas Southern once. The two contests against Texas will be televised on the Longhorn Network.
Here is the Hokie schedule (game times shown are Eastern Time):
Friday, Feb. 24: 2:30 p.m., Abilene Christian (VT is the away team)
Friday, Feb. 24: 5:00 p.m., Texas (VT is the away team)
Saturday, Feb. 24: 11:00 a.m., Texas Southern (VT is the home team)
Saturday, Feb. 24: 5:00 p.m., Texas (VT is the away team)
Sunday. Feb. 25: 10:30 a.m., Abilene Christian (VT is the home team)
“We have another challenging weekend ahead of us in Austin,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “Texas is a very good softball team. They’re experienced and coached well. It will be a tough environment to play in, but that’s what we need. We need to put ourselves in pressure situations right now.”
“It looks like Abilene Christian can score some runs and swing the bats. And we certainly won’t overlook Texas Southern.”
Here is an overview of the teams that the Hokies face:
Texas
Despite not fielding a softball team until 1997 (one year after Virginia Tech), the Longhorns have participated in 22 NCAA tournaments, including the last 17. The 2022 season was magical for Texas as it became the first unseeded team to ever reach the WCWS Championship Series. The Longhorns ended the year with a 47-22-1 record and the No. 2 ranking in USA Today Coaches Poll after falling to Oklahoma in the Championship.
Texas started the 2023 season 8-1-1 and is ranked ninth in the country. They lost their second game of the year to Northwestern 10-9 and had a controversial 4-4 tie with Kentucky.
The Longhorns return 15 players from last year's WCWS squad, including seven that played in at least 56 games. Among the returnees are three All-Big 12 Honorees – Mia Scott (sophomore, .472 average, seven steals), Alyssa Washington (junior, .300 average, 13 RBIs) and Katie Cimusz (sophomore .417 average, 2 HRs).
Texas added seven players to the roster, including a five-member signing class that ranked No. 12 in the nation, according to Extra Inning Softball. Two of the signees lead the Longhorns in hitting in 2023: infielder Leighann Goode (.576 average, 19 hits) and infielder Viviana Martinez (.516 average, 16 hits).
In the circle, junior left-hander Estelle Czech (3-1) leads the program in ERA at 1.40. Moreover, she struck out 21 batters in 20 innings. Czech spent her freshmen year (2021) at NC State where she faced the Hokies twice and gave up eight runs in 2.1 innings, including home runs to Kelsey Bennett and Morgan Overaitis. Sophomore Mac Morgan (3-0, 1.75 ERA) leads Texas in starts (four) and struck out 16 batters in 24 innings. Morgan transferred from Arizona State, where she compiled an 18-3 record with a 2.82 ERA as a freshman.
Abilene Christian
The Wildcats got off to a rocky start this season with a 3-9 record. Their three victories came against Murray State (13-12 in eight innings), UTEP (8-2) and Lamar (11-5).
Last season, Abilene Christian went 25-26 (15-9 in the WAC), its best win total in the past four seasons. The program returned most of its offensive production from 2022 (75% of hits, 78% of RBIs). And so far, the experience has paid off. The Wildcats are hitting .348 as a team while averaging 6.4 runs per game.
Five players are hitting .348 or better: sophomore Miranda Lista (.484), senior Mercedes Eichelberger (.432), freshman Sammie Shelander (.400, 2 HRs), junior Avery Miloch (.353, 4 HRs) and junior Sydney Kaiser (.348).
However, Abilene Christian has struggled in the circle. With a team ERA of 8.66, the group has allowed an average of 10.7 hits per game. Juniors Talia Nielsen (5.89 ERA) and Riley White (8.27 ERA) have nine of the 10 starts this season and have thrown 76% of the innings.
Defensively, the Wildcats are averaging an error per game and opposing base stealers have been successful in 15 of their 19 steal attempts.
Texas Southern
To say that the Tigers (0-6) got off to a poor start this season would be an understatement. Texas Southern scored a total of two runs in its first six games while surrendering 56. Its losses include a pair of lopsided defeats to Idaho State (13-0, 13-1) and shutout losses to UAB (8-0) and McNeese State (8-0).
The rocky start is a surprise for TSU. The program finished the 2022 season with an overall record of 26-20 (21-3 SWAC) and have won 12 straight division titles in the SWAC West.
Senior pitcher Jazmine Gendorf was named Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the SWAC. However, she struggled in her three starts this season, giving up 26 hits and 19 earned runs in 11 innings.
Graduate student outfielder Jazmine Dodd leads the Tigers in hitting with a .333 average. But as a team, TSU is batting only .134 and does not yet have an extra base hit.
TSU has also struggled defensively, committing 16 errors in their six games. Opposing base stealers had a field day, stealing 24 bases in 25 attempts.
Things are not all bleak for Texas Southern, however. On Saturday, the Astros Foundation donated $1 million to the university to build baseball and softball stadiums on campus. Both teams currently play off-campus.
Virginia Tech
D’Amour publicly stated that he wants the Hokies to be ready for ACC play, which begins on Friday, March 3 in Blacksburg vs. NC State.
Because of the team’s depth, he experimented more with lineups more than he did in previous years. 13 different position players have started three or more games. The upcoming weekend in Texas offers one final chance to tweak things before opening ACC play.
D’Amour said after last weekend that he wants the Hokies to continue to be aggressive offensively. They did that through their first 10 games, hitting 18 home runs. Bre Peck led the way with four while Jayme Bailey and Addy Greene recorded three each. VT is currently tied for fourth in the country in home runs per game (1.80).
However, D’Amour has occasionally seen his team “sneak back into passive mode” and made it clear that he always wants the foot on the gas pedal.
The Hokies have seven players currently batting above .300:
In the circle, sophomore Emma Lemley and freshman Lyndsey Grein will continue to be the 1-2 punch for the Hokies. But this weekend also gives D’Amour a chance to take one more look Peck and Molly Jacobson again.
Lemley (4-1, 2.33 ERA) did not have an issue with illegal pitch calls in the first 10 games of the season for Virginia Tech. She struck out 53 batters in 33 innings, too. Her impressive velocity last weekend (upper 60s) even caught the attention of ESPN analyst Danielle Lawrie.
https://twitter.com/daniellelawrie5/status/1627434842303373312?s=20
The Hokies’ pitching staff has been stingy with free passes and only walked 10 batters all season. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio is sixth in the nation (7.60). Defensively, Tech’s only committed four errors in its first 10 games, good for a top-20 ranking in the country in fielding percentage (.984).
One of the most satisfying things for D’Amour has been the readiness of his bench players to produce at a moment’s notice.
“When you’re this deep,” D’Amour said, “you have to be ready when your name’s called and cheer on your teammates while you’re waiting your turn. I have been very thankful for what I’ve seen so far.”
Here’s the tale of the tape:
