After a disappointing weekend against Florida State, the Virginia softball team will try to stop a three-game skid with tomorrow's midweek doubleheader against Radford at home.
The first game will begin at 4 p.m., with the second game scheduled for 6 p.m.
Following Virginia's struggles over the weekend, senior captain Meghan O'Leary said the team is focused on developing a steady level of play going into Wednesday.
"I think we really need to pull together -- get all on the same page as far as energy and heart," O'Leary said. "I think we're kind of going up and down right now, trying to find that consistent level of play to where we can get our offense right, get our pitching and our hitting on the same page and get everything into it and finally play to how we can play."
Radford (16-7) comes to Charlottesville fresh off a 4-2 performance at the USF Under Armour Showcase in Clearwater, Fla. In their last game, the Highlanders defeated Indiana 1-0.
"Radford's tough," Virginia coach Eileen Schmidt said. Radford coach Mickey Dean "has done a great job with that program there. And you're going to go up against pitchers you haven't ever seen before. So it's a chance to work on some hitting, some offensive stuff."
The Cavaliers (7-16, 2-4 ACC) are likely to see Radford senior Ashley Taylor and freshman Rebecca Whalley starting on the mound.
In Taylor's last start, she pitched seven shutout innings against Indiana. It was the 21st shutout of her career, which set a new school record. Taylor allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out three.
Whalley's most recent performance was in a 0-1 loss against Massachusetts. Despite the loss, the lefty allowed just one run on five hits during six innings. She walked two and struck out six.
The Cavaliers' pitching staff should take note of two offensive players for the Highlanders. Sophomore Sarah Himan leads the team with a .385 average, one home run and 16 RBIs. Senior Cassie Rhodes is hitting .319 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs.
Thursday night at 5 , Virginia will play in the opening game of the Cavalier Classic against Georgetown.
Georgetown (9-21) will play a Wednesday doubleheader in Harrisonburg against James Madison before heading to Charlottesville Thursday, and the Cavs can expect to face the threatening Hoya offense, especially sophomore Samantha Peters. Peters already has six home runs and 18 RBIs to go along with a .344 batting average. Two other Hoyas, freshman Aimee Moffat (16) and sophomore Suria Buhadue (12), also have double-digit RBI totals.
Virginia should still be able to compete with Georgetown offensively. Opposing teams are hitting .286 against the Hoya pitching staff, which has a combined ERA of 5.25.
The Cavalier Classic, featuring Virginia, Georgetown, Ohio Rutgers and Radford in 10 games, will be played over three days. After facing Georgetown, Virginia squares off against Radford for a third time Friday, then Rutgers and Ohio Saturday.
"We've got a long week," Schmidt said. "We play Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But it's a fun week. We get out of conference. It's not just one midweek [game]. It's multiple midweeks into the weekend so we have a chance to get hot and get on a roll"
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