Conference play for ACC softball starts this weekend with Virginia Tech traveling to North Carolina. The Hokies were picked to finish seventh in the conference this year, but have played well so far during non-conference play. They'll look to continue their improvement in a league that has one dominant team but appears to be wide open for spots 2-8.
The Hokies won their first three tournaments of the season at UNC-Charlotte, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina. They mixed in a win at Radford and were 11-3 going into their spring break road trip.
They faced tougher competition during tournaments at Central Florida and Arizona State and went 7-3 with two losses to a very good South Alabama team and another against the only ranked team they've played, Arizona State. That ASU game brought the Hokies down to earth as a seven-run third inning led to a 10-3 defeat.
Tech has a good record and good team stats, but haven't played a very impressive schedule so far. Like the baseball team, we won't know a whole lot about them until conference play gets underway. What we do know from the games they've played so far is that they're a balanced team and that just needs some timely hitting. Tech's first four losses of the year were by one run before they fell to USA by two and ASU by seven.
Going into this weekend, Tech is second in the ACC in hitting and third in ERA. Those stats will be put to the test right away in conference play in Chapel Hill. The Heels are right behind the Hokies in both hitting and ERA, but have faced a much more challenging schedule so far. The Heels have 10 losses this year, eight of which have come against teams receiving votes in the coaches' poll.
After this weekend, we should have a better gauge of how the Hokies match up with six of the teams in the ACC. We already know how they match up with Georgia Tech, which is to say not well. The defending regular season and ACC tournament champions have shown no sign of slowing down and it's no wonder why. The Jackets brought back 80 percent of their innings and 82 percent of their total bases from last year's team.
Sortable tables? Sortable tables:
Pitching
| TEAM | RET | ERA | W | L | APP | GS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | HR | TB | AVG | SLG | OBP | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 2 | 5.22 | 2 | 14 | 30 | 18 | 110.0 | 147 | 82 | 57 | 64 | 26 | 242 | 0.319 | 0.525 | 0.400 | 1.93 |
| FS | 2 | 2.00 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 10 | 77.0 | 52 | 22 | 32 | 100 | 7 | 81 | 0.183 | 0.285 | 0.279 | 1.17 |
| GT | 2 | 1.89 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 16 | 107.1 | 79 | 29 | 47 | 82 | 5 | 109 | 0.199 | 0.275 | 0.301 | 1.28 |
| MD | 2 | 1.85 | 8 | 11 | 29 | 19 | 128.2 | 92 | 34 | 60 | 130 | 5 | 125 | 0.200 | 0.272 | 0.301 | 1.24 |
| NC | 1 | 27.00 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.1 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0.500 | 0.688 | 0.600 | 5.14 |
| NCS | 2 | 7.00 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10.0 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 0.282 | 0.436 | 0.451 | 2.30 |
| VA | 2 | 3.26 | 13 | 7 | 25 | 20 | 137.1 | 136 | 64 | 36 | 115 | 22 | 234 | 0.260 | 0.447 | 0.317 | 1.32 |
| VT | 3 | 3.72 | 8 | 12 | 32 | 20 | 135.1 | 153 | 72 | 49 | 81 | 8 | 215 | 0.282 | 0.396 | 0.348 | 1.55 |
| TEAM | RET | ERA | W | L | APP | GS | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | HR | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 67% | 5.22 | 100% | 78% | 73% | 90% | 84% | 79% | 77% | 76% | 91% | 68% | 75% |
| FS | 67% | 2.00 | 33% | 56% | 57% | 48% | 52% | 44% | 41% | 56% | 58% | 41% | 42% |
| GT | 67% | 1.89 | 74% | 100% | 75% | 76% | 80% | 78% | 78% | 85% | 67% | 71% | 77% |
| MD | 100% | 1.85 | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| NC | 33% | 27.00 | 0% | 0% | 7% | 0% | 2% | 7% | 16% | 6% | 1% | 5% | 6% |
| NCS | 50% | 7.00 | 11% | 0% | 19% | 0% | 7% | 10% | 20% | 18% | 9% | 6% | 9% |
| VA | 67% | 3.26 | 100% | 100% | 96% | 100% | 100% | 98% | 94% | 100% | 99% | 96% | 98% |
| VT | 75% | 3.72 | 100% | 92% | 97% | 95% | 100% | 98% | 96% | 100% | 100% | 80% | 96% |
Hitting
| TEAM | RET | GP | GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB | AVG | SLG | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 9 | 131 | 92 | 232 | 23 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 44 | 12 | 89 | 6 | 0.147 | 0.19 | 0.208 |
| FS | 9 | 146 | 127 | 394 | 51 | 100 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 52 | 143 | 33 | 61 | 13 | 0.254 | 0.363 | 0.32 |
| GT | 12 | 196 | 166 | 480 | 114 | 138 | 21 | 1 | 35 | 127 | 266 | 52 | 104 | 6 | 0.288 | 0.554 | 0.378 |
| MD | 13 | 173 | 140 | 366 | 39 | 81 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 110 | 23 | 103 | 8 | 0.221 | 0.301 | 0.287 |
| NC | 13 | 204 | 124 | 345 | 48 | 74 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 42 | 125 | 36 | 60 | 9 | 0.214 | 0.362 | 0.295 |
| NCS | 11 | 147 | 109 | 306 | 27 | 70 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 93 | 25 | 57 | 6 | 0.229 | 0.304 | 0.295 |
| VA | 11 | 123 | 100 | 289 | 37 | 64 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 83 | 22 | 67 | 14 | 0.221 | 0.287 | 0.285 |
| VT | 12 | 184 | 139 | 377 | 52 | 81 | 17 | 3 | 11 | 42 | 137 | 45 | 110 | 20 | 0.215 | 0.363 | 0.304 |
| TEAM | RET | GP | GS | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | TB | BB | SO | SB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 53% | 53% | 49% | 48% | 46% | 35% | 17% | 0% | 21% | 39% | 30% | 28% | 55% | 60% |
| FS | 56% | 64% | 67% | 68% | 65% | 66% | 72% | 80% | 43% | 72% | 66% | 55% | 68% | 59% |
| GT | 75% | 82% | 83% | 91% | 74% | 85% | 75% | 100% | 80% | 88% | 82% | 54% | 96% | 32% |
| MD | 72% | 77% | 74% | 74% | 72% | 72% | 69% | 50% | 57% | 67% | 68% | 58% | 79% | 89% |
| NC | 76% | 73% | 64% | 60% | 61% | 53% | 64% | 0% | 82% | 58% | 60% | 68% | 63% | 43% |
| NCS | 61% | 56% | 55% | 57% | 52% | 61% | 50% | 50% | 42% | 53% | 56% | 68% | 43% | 46% |
| VA | 73% | 61% | 56% | 58% | 49% | 54% | 38% | 33% | 25% | 36% | 45% | 39% | 55% | 52% |
| VT | 71% | 74% | 73% | 72% | 71% | 71% | 85% | 100% | 52% | 62% | 67% | 76% | 77% | 91% |
So far the Jackets have played like they were predicted to. They've hit an astonishing 44 home runs (the closest ACC team has 23) and their pitchers have 10 shutouts to their names. If 19-4 Georgia Tech doesn't run away with the ACC, it will be a huge upset.
After the Jackets, you have six teams including the Hokies that will fight to finish in the top half of the conference. How Tech performs against these other five teams will ultimately decide how good their season is. Unfortunately for Tech, only two of these series are at home. Those are the last two home ACC series of the season against NC State and Maryland.
The key for the Hokies will of course be their pitching. Kenzie Roark's having a solid year, but the surprise has been Jasmin Harrell, who's pitching a lot better as a sophomore. She hasn't lost a start and pitched well in her only loss, a game against Coastal Carolina in which she pitched 9.1 innings. She had a problem with walks early in the year, but has had better control in recent outings. One thing to watch is how many starts she will get once ACC play starts.
At the plate, sophomore catcher Betty Rose is having a breakout year. She's hitting .368 with five home runs and 19 RBIs. Four of her home runs came in the ASU tournament which led to her being named last week's ACC player of the week.
The Hokies could finish in the top half of the conference if they continue to get better and get the hits they need when they need them. That would be big for Tech, which is 16-23 in conference play the last two seasons.