No. 18 Virginia Tech heads to Baton Rouge, La., this weekend for the Purple and Gold Challenge.
The Hokies join UT-Arlington, No. 21 Northwestern and No. 7 LSU in the three-day affair. They’ll play the Mavericks and Tigers twice each with one contest against the Wildcats. The two meetings with the hosts will be televised on SEC Network Plus.
The Hokies’ schedule is as follows:
“It will be a challenging weekend for us in Louisiana,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “We’ll go against solid competition and may or may not have to deal with weather adversity. If we face bad weather, that will help us as the season rolls along.”
No. 7 LSU
The hosts (5-0) are ranked seventh in the country and are coming off a 44-17 season (12-12 in the SEC) that saw them earn a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers went 3-0 in their regional but ran into Stanford and NiJaree Canady in the super regionals, losing in three games.
Junior right-handed pitcher Sydney Berson was a big part of LSU’s success last season, going 20-8 with a 1.78 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 204 innings. She picked up where she left off on opening weekend, throwing a two-hit shutout against Central Arkansas (5 innings) and a complete game in a 3-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana.
It appears that Berson will have plenty of help this season. Freshman left-hander Jayden Heavener was the 2024 Florida Gatorade Player of the Year, the 2024 MaxPreps National Player of the Year and the top left-handed pitcher in the country. She lived up to the hype in her first collegiate start vs. Charlotte, throwing a perfect game and striking out 13 in six innings.
The Tigers also added depth to their pitching staff via the transfer portal. Senior Ashley Vallejo joined from McNeese State, where she was last year’s Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year, while Tatum Clopton came from Oklahoma State. Both threw five and four scoreless innings last week, respectfully.
The Hokies also had a good weekend in the circle, highlighted by Emma Lemley’s perfect game against the College of Charleston. The overall pitching stats for the two teams are very similar after one week:
Offensively, redshirt freshman Tori Edwards, the 21st-ranked recruit in class of 2023, had a great opening weekend, hitting .533 (8-for-15) with three home runs and 10 RBI. Third baseman Danieca Coffey batted .500 (7-for-14).
The Tigers have three more hitters batting over .300: catcher Maci Bergeron (.400), infielder Maddox McKee (.364) and utility player McKaela Walker (.364). Preseason All-SEC outfielder Jalia Lassiter was right behind at .286.
LSU is coached by Beth Torina, who is in her 14th season. She has a 541-237 (.695) record with the Tigers and has 670 wins in her career. She was previously at Florida International.
No. 21 Northwestern
The Wildcats (3-2) have won three consecutive Big Ten regular-season titles, but the additions of Oregon, UCLA and Washington will certainly make a four-peat a challenge. However, they registered an impressive 4-1 win over No. 8 Duke during the opening weekend before dropping games to No. 15 Missouri (3-0) and No. 5 Tennessee (12-1).
Yet, the story for Northwestern was the performance of freshman Kaylie Avvisato from Riverside High School in Leesburg. The former 2024 Virginia Class 5 All-State Player of the Year led the offense with a team-high nine hits, a .563 batting average and three multi-hit games during the first five games.
However, the Wildcats only batted .246 as a team. Senior Grace Nieto was the only other player to hit over .300 at .364 (4-for-11).
In the circle, graduate student Lauren Boyd (1-0, 2.76 ERA, 8 Ks in 12 ⅔ innings) and sophomore Riley Grudzielanek (1-2, 3.82 ERA, 6 Ks in 14 ⅔ innings) handled the majority of the workload during the opening weekend.
Kate Drohan is in her 24th year as head coach at Northwestern. Coaching alongside her twin sister, Caryl, who is her associate head coach, Drohan has compiled an overall record of 783-426-1 (.648). The six-time Big Ten Coach of the Year has taken the Wildcats to 15 NCAA Tournaments, six super regionals and three College World Series.
UT-Arlington
UT-Arlington is the fourth team in the event. The Mavericks went 4-1 during the opening weekend with two wins over Prairie View A&M and one over Eastern Illinois. They also split with Incarnate Word.Junior catcher Kailee Bautista was named the WAC Player of the Week after batting .385 (5-for-13) with three doubles, eight RBI, one home run and 11 total bases.
Bautista was one of six Mavericks who hit over .300 during the opening weekend: Nicole Hill (.429), Talia Maldonado (.385), Kaitlyn Sailor (.375), Mia McNulty (.364) and Elizabeth Baylor (.333). Baylor hit two of UTA’s four home runs, and she and Maldonado each stole three bases in as many attempts.
In the circle, sixth-year left-hander Emilie Hoelscher threw ten innings over the first five games without giving up an earned run, including a shutout win over Prairie View A&M.
Senior right-hander Jessica Adams, expected to be the leader of the Mavericks’ staff, allowed a single run in 6 ⅔ innings. Adams led the team’s rotation in 2024 with 114 innings and a 3.50 ERA.
UT-Arlington is coached by Kara Dill, who is in her third season at the helm and has a career record of 49-65 (.430). She joined the Mavericks after six seasons as Texas A&M’s pitching coach.
Here is the tale of the tape:
