After taking two of three games from Maryland on the road over the weekend, the Virginia softball team will travel to Farmville, Va. Tuesday to face Longwood University.
Virginia (24-18, 5-9 ACC) dominated the weekend series with the Terrapins in College Park riding the strength of stellar pitching by Erin Horn and Coty Tolar.
"We got great pitching all weekend, and we feel like we can win a lot of games if we can do that," Virginia coach Karen Johns said.
In the series opener, Horn pitched a complete game, allowing only four hits and one earned run to lead the Cavaliers to a 2-1 win.
In the second half of Saturday's twin bill, Tolar also went the distance, allowing only four hits and one unearned run. Tolar's first complete game of the season provided more than enough room for the Cavaliers as they easily took the second game 4-1. Even in the 1-0 loss in the series finale Sunday, Horn and Tolar combined to allow only two hits and one unearned run.
The pitchers "kept us in every game. That's all you can ask," junior Amy McKean said. "I thought it was much improved over recent weeks, and they went out and did a great job for us."
The Cavaliers look to continue their success of late in Tuesday's doubleheader versus the Lancers. Longwood (22-18) presents a challenge to the Cavaliers in that Virginia cannot afford to look past this midweek contest.
"They have pretty good team speed, swinging the bats with really good power," Johns said. "They rely on scoring a lot of runs. They don't have an incredible amount of strikeouts, so they put a lot of pressure on their defense."
Despite the wins Saturday, the Cavalier offense is still struggling to come up with big hits with runners on base and putting the pressure on the defense.
"We don't seem to do that on a consistent basis," Johns said. "It's not one part of the lineup, it's a different person every time. [We need] the consistency of getting the two out hit or the hit with the runner on second or third. Until we can do that we'll have 2-1 or 1-1 weekends."
In spite of the Cavaliers' offensive woes, Jessica Taylor has done her part to bolster the top of the Cavalier lineup as of late. With a 2-for-3 performance Sunday and four hits in the three game series, Taylor raised her batting average to .280. Taylor will need to continue her recent offensive surge if the Cavaliers are to continue to be successful.
The Cavaliers will have to push through their offensive struggles and continue their consistent pitching in the coming games against Longwood to continue to strengthen their game for the upcoming ACC tournament.
The doubleheader against the Lancers provides the Cavaliers a chance to fine tune their offense before returning home to face ACC foe N.C. State.
"We need to take both games to set up for N.C. State," McKean said. "Coming off the Maryland series, we're playing really well, and we're looking to keep the pressure on Longwood."
The first pitch of the first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Lancer Field in Farmville, Va. The second game is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
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