TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 21/22 Virginia Tech softball team earned the No. 2 seed at the Tempe Regional hosted by No. 12/8 Arizona State for its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
The Hokies (33-13) will face the BYU Cougars (36-15) in their first game Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET before playing one of Arizona State (32-14) or Southern Illinois (37-14) on Friday. Neither the Hokies nor Tech head coach Pete D'Amour have ever faced BYU or Southern Illinois on the softball field, but Tech is 1-2 all-time vs. the Sun Devils. The Hokies are 14-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to one Super Regional in 2008, the year they advanced to the Women's College World Series.
Tickets for this weekend's action at Farrington Stadium go on sale at 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Fans interested in purchasing, click here.
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 20
Game 1 – BYU vs. Virginia Tech – 7:30 p.m. ET – ESPN3
Game 2 – Southern Illinois vs. Arizona State – 10 p.m. ET – ESPN3
Friday, May 21
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 4 p.m. ET
Game 4 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 6:30 p.m. ET
Game 5 – Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 9 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 22
Game 6 – Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 – 6 p.m. ET
Game 7 – (if necessary) – 8:30 p.m. ET
WHO TO WATCH
Keely Rochard was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year last week after a 24-7 regular season with 288 strikeouts and 13 shutouts. The junior was also the lone Hokie named to the ACC All-Tournament Team.
Kelsey Bennett leads the team with 11 home runs on the season and is coming off the last ACC series weekend in Syracuse where she hit .429 with a team-leading seven runs batted in against the Orange.
LAST TIME OUT
The Hokies lost their ACC semifinal matchup with top-seeded Clemson in a close, 2-0 contest. It was a duel between two of the conference's top pitchers as Keely Rochard and Clemson's Valerie Cagle combined to allow just seven hits in the ballgame. Tech had advanced to the semifinals following a 4-1 win over Notre Dame in the quarters, avenging an 0-4 regular season series vs. the Irish.Gallery: (5-19-2021) 2021 NCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT TRAVEL AND PRACTICE DAYS
