Virginia Tech softball, as one of the four best teams to not host a regional, will mount its NCAA Tournament campaign on the road in Baton Rouge, La., against No. 16 LSU, South Alabama and Akron.
“Everybody is in regionals for a reason,” Virginia Tech head coach Pete D’Amour said after the NCAA released its bracket. “You go to LSU, and it’s going to be a tough environment. [Akron] is playing well and South Alabama had a good weekend in a good league, too. Everybody is good. We’ve just got to prepare like we did last week.”
The Hokies’ (46-10) first test will be against South Alabama on Friday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+. The Jaguars (32-25) won the Sun Belt championship, which they capped off with a 3-2 win over Texas State in the title game on Saturday.
Jaguars pitcher Ryley Harrison is at the top of her team’s rotation with an 18-12 record and a 2.42 earned run average across a team-high 197 innings. The junior tossed the final four innings of the Sun Belt championship game, surrendering five hits and two runs while accruing eight strikeouts and four walks.
Offensively, designated player Kara Wine has the best batting average on the team (.323), while first baseman Virginia Mambelli (.319) and third baseman Olivia Branstetter (.318) follow her as the only South Alabama players with batting averages above .300. Mambelli and Branstetter are tied with a team-best seven homers.
If Tech wins on Friday, it will most likely face LSU on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. The Tigers (37-17) left the SEC Tournament with a 7-3 second-round loss to Georgia. LSU finished No. 19 in the RPI with the ninth-best strength of schedule in the country.
Natalie Honnen, the chair of the selection committee, said the group selected LSU over Virginia Tech largely due to that strength of schedule metric — in which the Hokies finished 57th.
The Tigers primarily utilize Jayden Heavener and Cece Cellura in the circle. Heavener is entering the NCAA Tournament with a 12-8 record, 2.88 earned run average and 109 strikeouts in 126 ⅓ innings. Cellura follows her with an 8-5 record, 3.32 ERA and 45 punchouts.
Facing strong pitching — especially in the ACC Tournament against Duke and Florida State — gave Virginia Tech a baseline against the arms it will face this weekend.
“We faced [Duke’s] Cassidy Curd, who’s really good,” Virginia Tech catcher Zoe Yaeger said. “Jazzy Francik, obviously, is the ACC Pitcher of the Year. We’re more prepared than ever to go into regionals.”
Like South Alabama, LSU only has three hitters with batting averages atop .300: center fielder Jalia Lassiter (.353), shortstop Kylee Edwards (.344) and second baseman Sierra Daniel (.340). First baseman Tori Edwards is hitting .287 with a team-high 12 homers, while Edwards follows her with 10 dingers.
Tech would face Akron in the event of an upset and/or if it reaches an elimination game on Saturday. The Zips (34-23) won the MAC, which featured a win over Ohio and two against Western Michigan.
Akron center fielder Meagan Lee has a team-high .419 batting average , though she has no home runs. First baseman Sophia Wygast has 11 blasts, while designated player Sydney Selker follows her with 10.
Pitching-wise, Akron arm Madie Jamrog is the Zips’ only hurler with an ERA under four (3.43). She has an 18-6 record in the process.
The Hokies are hitting the road for the regional round for the fourth consecutive year — and the second straight season they were one of the first few teams to miss hosting. Even if they had been named a top-16 seed, though, they would not have been able to play a regional at Tech Softball Park due to limited hotels conflicting with graduation ceremonies this weekend.
Virginia Tech prepares for regionals by traveling for early-season tournaments in SEC parks. It went to Tiger Park for a two-game set against LSU in 2025. This year, it traveled for two-game series at South Carolina, Georgia and Auburn — and emerged 6-0.
“We’ve played in some tough environments earlier in the season,” Virginia Tech designated player Kylie Aldridge said. “I think being able to channel that energy of what we had in the beginning and just taking it wherever we go — whether it’s LSU or even if we were here. It’s just taking that energy and going right at them playing Hokie softball.”
If Virginia Tech escapes Baton Rouge with a regional win and the Tuscaloosa Regional between No. 1 Alabama, Southeastern Louisiana, Belmont and USC Upstate goes chalk, it could set up a super regional between the Hokies and Crimson Tide at Rhoads Stadium next weekend.
Ahead of then, Tech will play South Alabama on Friday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+. If the Hokies win, they will face the winner of LSU vs. Akron on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET — and a loss would put them in the elimination bracket for a game right after.