Virginia Tech softball will look to elongate its 17-game winning streak this week during its road trip to Pittsburgh.
The Hokies (36-5, 14-1 ACC) sit No. 10 in the NFCA rankings, No. 11 in ESPN/USA Softball, No. 12 in D1Softball and No. 13 in Softball America. They rose one spot in the former three polls and remained the same in the latter. Tech is also 12th in the RPI.
Pitt is not ranked in any polls. The Panthers (15-26, 4-14) are No. 127 in the RPI. Due to weather and Easter Sunday, they’ll play one game on Thursday and a doubleheader on Friday.
Thursday, April 17: 6 p.m. ET, ACCNX
Friday, April 18: 2 p.m. ET, ACCNX
Friday, April 18: 6 p.m. ET, ACC Network
Pitt sits tied with NC State for 13th in the conference, with series losses to North Carolina, then-No. 10 Florida State, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Notre Dame and then-No. 16 Duke. The Panthers did sneak a 5-3 win over the Blue Devils on Saturday, though the victory came sandwiched between 13-7 and 11-3 losses.
The Panthers defeated Penn State 16-8 in six innings in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday 16-8. The Hokies beat the Nittany Lions 6-3 back on March 1 in Salem.
Tech has not lost to Pitt since a 2021 defeat in Blacksburg — a seven-game streak. Its most recent loss going back further came in the 2018 ACC Tournament. The Hokies have not lost in Pittsburgh during head coach Pete D’Amour’s tenure.
The two teams matched up in Blacksburg in 2024 — a Virginia Tech sweep. The Hokies won via run rule in the first and third games — 18-0 and 9-0, respectively — and persevered to an 8-4 victory in the middle contest. Tech’s 18-run advantage in the opener tied the program record for margin of victory in an ACC game.
Jenny Allard is in her second season at Pitt’s helm after 28 seasons at Harvard, where she was the Ivy League’s most successful and longest-tenured softball coach. She notched her 700th career win during her first season in the ACC, becoming one of 43 active Division I softball coaches to reach the mark.
Panthers utility player Kylie Griggs has reached base in 11 consecutive games. She rode a 10-game hitting streak into Tuesday’s midweek game against Penn State but went 0-for-2 with three walks. During this stretch, she has notched a .444 batting average, .500 on-base percentage and .944 slugging rate with six doubles and four home runs. This season, she has a .306 batting average, .412 on-base percentage, five home runs and 14 RBI.
Outfielder Ahmari Braden leads Pitt with a .311 batting average in 40 games played. She has scored 20 runs off 32 hits, including a team-high two triples.
In the circle, Kyra Pittman has a team-high 117 ⅔ innings — the most on the team by 60 ⅔. She has an 8-16 record, 5.00 earned run average, 43 strikeouts and 46 walks.
The Panthers also rely on pitchers Gwen Sparks (57 innings), Kendall Brown (43 innings), Bekah Duck (35 innings) and Mikayla Jankovic (11 ⅔ innings). Together, the five arms have combined for a 5.27 earned run average with 131 strikeouts and 164 walks allowed.
Here is the tale of the tape, courtesy of Chip Grubb:
