Fresh off a 10-game homestand, No. 13 Virginia Tech (29-8, 9-3 ACC) travels to Charlottesville this weekend for the Commonwealth Clash with Virginia. Because of the Easter Holiday, the series will start on Thursday. All three games are scheduled to be shown on ACC Network Extra.
Thursday, April 6: 4 p.m. ET
Friday, April 7: 5 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 8: 12 p.m. ET
Virginia (25-11, 6-6 ACC), who was picked eighth in the preseason poll by the league’s coaches, has been the biggest surprise in the conference this season. After dropping five of its first six conference games (2-1 to Georgia Tech and 3-0 to Clemson), the Cavaliers bounced back strong, sweeping Pitt and winning two-of-three vs. North Carolina.
Although the Hokies have won 14 of their last 15 games versus Virginia, head coach Pete D’Amour is not overlooking UVa.
“We have a lot of respect for Virginia’s program,” D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “They’ve pushed us to the limit the last couple of years. I don’t need to remind our kids how important this series is.”
The Cavaliers’ resurgence has been paced by their pitching staff, which ranks second in the ACC in both ERA (1.82) and opposing batting average (.193). They have only surrendered 12 home runs to opposing batters this season.
Freshman right-hander Eden Bigham (9-4, 1.52 ERA), who was the 28th overall recruit by Extra Innings Softball, has been as good as advertised. She threw a seven-inning no-hitter versus Lamar in her first collegiate start, striking out nine before picking up two saves during the same weekend to earn ACC Pitcher of the Week honors. She has 92 strikeouts in 83 innings pitched and has started 13 games.
Graduate student and right-handed pitcher Jenny Bressler (7-1, 1.56) transferred to UVa from UNLV, where she had a career ERA of 1.90 and 599 strikeouts in 617 career innings. This season, she has 82 strikeouts in 63 innings in eight starts, and she’s earned three saves.
Senior right-hander Molly Grube (7-6, 1.60 ERA) has 34 career starts for the Cavaliers, including 13 this season. It was Grube who picked up the win against the Hokies in 2022, limiting VT to two earned runs in 6⅔ innings, breaking the Hokies 13-game winning streak in Blacksburg.
Offensively, freshman Jade Hylton leads the Cavaliers in batting average (.310), home runs (eight) and RBIs (22). Formerly Extra Innings’ No. 56 overall recruit, Hylton is tied for the team lead in stolen bases with 19 in 21 attempts.
Sophomore Kelly Ayer, who also has 19 stolen bags, is second on the team in batting average (.333). Senior shortstop Katie Goldberg, who has started over 120 career games for UVa, ranks third in batting average (.300) and second in RBIs (18).
The Cavaliers like to run and are 14th in the country in stolen bases per game (2.36), which leads the ACC. They’ve only been thrown out 13 times in their 98 attempts.
Meanwhile, the Hokies hit a two-game lull offensively last weekend against Duke, scoring only one run in back-to-back contest before exploding for 13 runs in the series finale. They followed that with 21 runs in two games against Longwood on Tuesday. VT still leads the country in home runs (72) and home runs per game (1.95).
“I like how we’re trending the last three games,” D’Amour said. “Our pitching is improving day-by-day and our hitting seems to be back on track. I’m looking forward to seeing us continue to play the way we’re capable of playing.”
Here is the tale of the tape:
