TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After practicing the past two days in the Sunshine State, the No. 22/20 Virginia Tech softball team will take on eighth-seeded NC State on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship at 11 a.m. ET.
The Hokies (45-8, 20-4 ACC), who are the top seed in the 10-team tournament, got the best of the Wolfpack (30-26, 9-15) earlier in the year in Raleigh, N.C., sweeping the Pack in a three-game series.
The all-time series between the two schools stands at 20-18 in favor of State. The two squads both have first-year head coaches in Tech's Pete D'Amour, the ACC Coach of the Year, and State's Jennifer Patrick-Swift. Earlier today, the Wolfpack defeated Syracuse (21-32, 8-16) in the 8-9 matchup at JoAnne Graf Field in the first round.
The game will be broadcast on Regional Sports Networks (RSN) and can be viewed via WatchESPN and FoxSportsGo. Tom Werme (play-by-play) and Cheri Kempf (color) will be on the call. All-time, Tech is 19-13 in the ACC Championship and is 4-0 as the No. 1 seed.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Thu. | 11 a.m. vs. NC State | Stats | Watch
Fri. | 1 p.m. Semifinals | Stats | Watch
Sat. | 12 p.m. Championship | Stats | Watch
The last time out, the Hokies split up into an intrasquad scrimmage on Senior Day, ending in a 4-4 tie after seven innings last Saturday. In regular-season play, Tech faced Longwood (34-19, 20-4 Big South) last Tuesday and swept the Lancers, winning the first game 6-0 and second contest 8-5.
Earlier this week, Tech racked up numerous awards from the league office, including pitcher Carrie Eberle (25-5) winning Pitcher of the Year and third baseman Kelsey Bennett earning Freshman of the Year. The two players joined outfielder Emma Strouth, pitcher Keely Rochard and first baseman Jayme Bailey on the All-ACC first team. Bennett and Bailey also made the ACC All-Freshmen Team.
In the polls, the Hokies moved up two spots in the two major polls, coming in at No. 22 in the NFCA poll and No. 20 in the USA Softball.
In the national rankings, Tech has the sixth-best batting average (.341), third-most home runs per game (1.70) and fifth-best on-base percentage (.424). It also is tied for first for the most shutouts (22) in the nation with No. 1/1 Oklahoma (48-2, 18-0 Big 12). Individually, Strouth is fifth in the land for RBIs with 66, Rochard is tied for fifth for shutouts with 11 and Eberle has the eighth-most wins in the circle with 25.
