LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 20/20 Virginia Tech softball team heads to Louisville for the 2021 ACC Championship after finishing fourth in the league standings in the regular season.
The Hokies (32-12, 23-11 ACC) will face the five seed Notre Dame (31-12, 20-10 ACC), who happen to be the only team to defeat Tech in a series this season. The Irish swept the Hokies in their four-game series in Blacksburg, the only time head coach Pete D'Amour had been swept in his head coaching career.
The Hokies are 7-29 all-time against the Irish and are 1-9 in the teams' last 10 meetings. The game is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday and will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Thursday | 1:30 p.m. versus Notre Dame | Watch | Stats
Friday | 1 p.m. Semifinals | Watch | Stats
Saturday | 12 p.m. Championship | Watch | Stats
LAST TIME OUT
The Hokies ended their final ACC series of the year with an 8-1 win over Syracuse, the 100th win at Virginia Tech for head coach Pete D'Amour. Tech completed their first ACC sweep of the year after the 8-1 win over the Orange, led by Keely Rochard and Kelsey Bennett. Rochard got the win in all four games and Bennett led the team offensively with seven runs batted in.
WHO TO WATCH
Keely Rochard got the win in all four games at Syracuse, including her second no-hitter of the season, seventh of her career, in Game 1. Rochard pitched 22 innings versus Syracuse and allowed just one run. The junior was named ACC Pitcher of the Year this week and earned first team All-ACC honors.
Kelsey Bennett leads the team with 11 home runs on the season and is coming off the Syracuse weekend where she hit .429 with a team-leading seven runs batted in against the Orange. Bennett is second on the team with 36 RBIs and was named to the All-ACC second team Tuesday.
SCOUTING NOTRE DAME
Record: 31-12 (20-10 ACC)
Head coach: Deanna Gumpf (783-333-1, 20th season)
All-time series: Notre Dame leads 29-7
The Fighting Irish finished fifth in the ACC this season behind a 20-10 conference record. Tuesday, six Irish players were named to the All-ACC teams, tied for the most in the conference with Florida State, one more than the Hokies.
