strike outs in order to give up the walks? Just be average in both? I think they go hand in hand. You could get a pitcher that is just a machine, throwing down the middle every time. No walks. It also means easier pitches to judge, and more hits. I think stats show we have riskier pitchers. Throw more questionable pitches, more likely to strike out, less likely to hit, but more walks if the batter can judge correctly. You have to take the good with the bad. I say if you have the pitching talent (and by the strikeout number we do) it’s a good strategy. Besides trading walks for strikeouts, you are more difficult to hit. That shows itself in our low era, despite the walks.

killed us in key games, against Duke, two outs, walked several batters and they have the bases loaded, then Duke hits the grandslam, down 4-0. They do it again, but a three run homer in the same series. Most of these homeruns are coming at the hands of walks, and not earning their way on with hits, or even errors by us. The solo shots aren't hurting us, its the homers with walked batters. Look at Sunday, got first two outs, then walked two batters, then 3 run bomb. Additionally, the walks are one thing, but also look at behind in the count, not getting on top of the hitters from the word go. This has really hurt us, because look at this last series, 3-2 counts and you have to come in, and homerun. This occured several times in the GT series. The loss to Michigan State is the same thing, walks led to multi-run homer. There were several posters that said early on that they were concerned about the pitching, and the walks were brought up. For whatever reason, control is still the main issue, it leads to multi-run homers, and behind in the count solo homeruns and also some multi-run homers as well. Go back and look at the games when our pitchers are on, and they are almost unstoppable. Getting ahead in the count is vital for pitching success in softball and baseball. You want the hitter to swing at your worst pitch, instead of having to groove the pitch because you are behind in the count, over and over again! Unfortunately, its a repeated broken record. There have been very few games where we lost due to not scoring enough runs.

misses. They are just not close.

OBP, Batting average against are better indicators. The team has an overall good. Giving up walks hurts. Overall, they have far more good days than bad days. We KNOW that good pitchers can shut down the offense at times. If the pitching is not on, the team could be hurt against good teams.....and at the end of the day, what is going to matter is how this team does when it faces a quality regional team.....

In the ACC, eight teams have given up 156 walks or more this season: Duke, 167 Cal, 166 VT, 161 Clemson, 161 Pitt, 160 ND, 159 GT, 156 BC, 156 The best team at drawing walks? VT, 201 and UVA, 199

VT, 328 UVA, 298 Stanford, 270 ND, 257 FSU, 256 GT, 237 NC State, 221 UNC, 217 Louisville, 216 Clemson, 213 ** Edited by VTChip at 4/21/2026, 3:58:38 PM

. . . I like the numbers put up by TX Kavan. She's average 1.2 K's/inning and 2.5 BB/game. Yes her ERA is about 3.00 but TX SOS is around 14 and you can bet she's faces the toughest opponents. VT has two good pitchers but I characterize both as somewhat 'fragile'. Not physically, but performance-wise. Mazz often pitches on the edge having one of the highest pitches thrown per batters faced in NCAA softball. This results in high pitch counts and lots of pressure on the defense. Bree is a 'smoke and mirrors' pitcher. She's very effective but depends on the lack of discipline from opposing hitters. That said, there's no arguing with the statement that "VT has two good pitchers".

the combo of base runners and TIMELY home runs. AND, VT not doing that as well.

Interesting stats in light of the selection committee chairperson's remarks

VT batters have struck out 141 times. Don’t know how this stat compares to the rest of the conference.

Complete batting stats in the post above.

. . . will ever be the day they walk on campus. These girls have been pitching 6 to 8 years when they arrive. Their mechanics are pretty ingrained. And remember, those mechanics earned them a scholarship. Bottom line is "fixing" and 18-year-old pitcher is very difficult. While it does happen, most of the job of the pitching coach is helping the pitcher become as effective as possible with their existing motor patterns. It's a crap shoot at best. My experience (25+ years) has shown that for every 3 pitchers recruited 1 becomes a truly reliable starter and will emerge by the time they are Sophomore.

. . . leaping (and she was illegal a lot). I was impressed by her 'fixing' this her sophomore year and still being effective. The rule change her junior year made her life easier. The fact that she pitched for a different coaches three of her four years likely limited her ability to ever develop and deploy consistently an effective change. ** Edited by MidloHokie at 4/21/2026, 5:29:04 PM ** Edited by MidloHokie at 4/21/2026, 5:29:37 PM ** Edited by MidloHokie at 4/21/2026, 6:11:42 PM