The Virginia softball team will head back across the Mason-Dixon Line today to take on Towson in a doubleheader after losing two of three to Maryland this weekend.
The Tigers (28-20, 9-5 CAA) enter the afternoon having lost two of their last three to Georgia State but having won six of their last eight. In those six games, Towson won convincingly, beating its opponents by an average of 3.5 runs per game.
The Cavaliers (14-33, 5-13 ACC), also coming off a series loss, have lost 10 of 12 coming into Wednesday and have scored only 10 runs in their last two series combined.
"Offensively with the bottom half of the lineup, we really need to come around," coach Eileen Schmidt said. "Because right now it's 1-2-3 and sometimes 4 that's doing all the work, and there's a lot more components to the game than just four people or three people."
Though Towson outperforms Virginia in most offensive categories, the two teams have similar offenses overall. Like the Cavaliers, the Tigers have four players hitting above .300, led by senior Nina Navarro, who is hitting .372.
"You can't take anyone too lightly," senior Whitney Holstun said. "We've got to go in and play our game. We've got to go out and score first and keep scoring instead of just sitting back and letting them play the game on us."
The big difference between the two teams, as has often been the case this season for the Cavaliers, is the pitching staffs. While the Cavaliers pitched well during the weekend in Maryland, including two complete games from junior Karla Wilburn, the overall team ERA is 6.62.
"We need consistency," Holstun said. "Our offense has to be more consistent and get more runs through. And then pitching of course can always improve."
Perhaps the biggest concern for the Cavaliers today will be their ability to focus.
"It's a tough time to travel that far mid-week, so really just making sure we're staying focused," Schmidt said about what the team needs to do to win. "It's a three-hour bus ride, we start finals next week, so [we] just stay focused and try to get into a groove offensively."
Holstun agreed that focus would be necessary, though she believed the team's weaknesses apply beyond today's bus ride.
"We can focus for a while and score enough runs to win but then we don't continuously score," she said. "We'll score in the second and third and that's it and not throughout the whole game."
Wilburn also commented on the team's need to be mentally tough during today's doubleheader.
"I think we need to show up for more than one inning," Wilburn said. "I know that's something we're going to try to work on against Towson and hopefully succeed in this weekend against Boston College -- playing hard every single inning and winning every single inning."
The two games against Towson could offer the Cavaliers the opportunity to head into the the final ACC matchup of the season this weekend against Boston College with increased confidence.
"I think it's going to be big for us coming out with enough energy in the beginning ... to take these two games and to take that momentum into this weekend," Wilburn said. "Boston College is a huge series this weekend, and we're expecting to win ... so if we can build momentum from Wednesday on, I think that will really help us"
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