The Virginia softball team travels to Florida State this weekend for its final series of the regular season, hoping to pull an upset and finish the season strong against the No. 19 Seminoles.
Virginia (25-18, 2-12 ACC) has struggled in ACC play this season, as the team managed its only wins against conference opponents early in the ACC schedule. Offensive production has been hard to find for the Cavaliers, who have averaged about two runs per game against conference opponents this season.
Adjusting offensive play will be critical if Virginia wants to overcome Florida State’s potent pitching. As a team, Seminole pitchers boast a total ERA of 1.26, including 19 shutouts. Florida State (35-13, 11-4 ACC) is led by two pitching standouts, sophomore Sarah Hamilton and junior Terese Gober, who combined have kept opponents’ batting averages below .200 and totaled more than 400 strikeouts.
Because the Seminoles have been able to significantly minimize their opponents’ opportunities to score this season, Virginia junior pitcher Nicole Koren said the Cavaliers will need to take advantage of any opportunities they receive on offense.
“We need to string our hits together more,” Koren said, adding that it will be important to “focus on our contact points, and attack pitches.”
Virginia has gone up against several teams this season that have displayed impressive pitching, so what the Seminoles bring to the table is nothing new for the Cavaliers. Senior outfielder Casey Steffan said she believes that Virginia can play successfully against any pitcher the team faces.
“I really feel like our offense can score on any pitcher,” Steffan said. “We were able to score three runs off of [North Carolina’s] Danielle Spaulding, who is a notorious pitcher in the ACC.”
Florida State also brings an impressive offense to complement its pitching. Though the Seminoles do not rank high in runs scored per game, they have proven an ability to hit with power, boasting impressive extra base numbers. They are also a threat to steal bases, ranking second only to Virginia in the conference in number of bases stolen this season.
Though Virginia has not seen much success against ACC teams this season, it has shown that it can compete against the top teams in the conference.
“This past weekend was a good example that we can bring it and we can beat teams like that,” Koren said. “I think we all know we can, so that is why we are working this whole week to fix things that have been going wrong every now and then in games so that when we come out we come out strong right from the start.”
Unlike most weeks of the past few months, the Cavaliers did not play any games in the middle of this week, allowing the team time to recuperate and potentially return to form.
“I think we are getting back on track offensively, with base running, and defensively,” Virginia coach Eileen Schmidt said. “Now it’s getting consistency in the circle like what we had towards the beginning of the season.”
Read More
No. 24 women’s soccer not to be denied in late win over Clemson
By Sam Chun | 16 minutes agoThe Cavaliers topped Clemson 1-0 in front of a packed out Klöckner Stadium.
Men’s soccer, totally discombobulated, capitulates early to No. 5 Pittsburgh
By Michael Liebermann | 2 hours agoPittsburgh set a program record for the quickest cluster of three goals.
No. 4 field hockey shut out for first time of season in defeat at No. 2 North Carolina
By Eleanor Lynch | 14 hours agoThe Cavalier offense had its worst outing of the season as they were once again defeated by the rival Tar Heels.
