Cavaliers Play at James Madison Wednesday

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (18-13, 5-0 ACC) will play James Madison at 6 p.m. Wednesday in a non-conference matchup in Harrisonburg, Va. It is the inaugural season at JMU’s Veterans Memorial Park. Live stats will be linked on VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavaliers are coming off a series sweep at Virginia Tech, their first three-game sweep of the Hokies since 1998. Freshman Alex Skinkis was named the ACC Player of the Week after hitting .467 in helping Virginia to a 4-1 record last week. Additionally, Virginia received votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top-25 poll, released Tuesday.

Senior Sarah Tacke continues to lead Virginia at the plate this season with a .413 average. She also posts a team-best eight doubles and 27 RBI. Junior Alison Pittman is batting .281 and has a team-best 10 stolen bases.

Freshman Melanie Mitchell has 171 strikeouts in 143 2/3 innings of work in the circle. She also tallies a 2.58 ERA and has 18 complete games on the season.

James Madison (14-17) is coming off its Colonial Athletic Association opener where the Dukes went 2-1 at George Mason over the weekend to clinch the series.

Senior Shannon Moxey paces the JMU offense with a .337 average and a team-best 33 hits. Teammates Casey Mansfield (.319) and Katie Spitzer (.316) have each contributed 18 RBI while Spitzer’s six home runs also lead the squad.

Four James Madison pitchers have seen significant time this season with freshman Cara Stecher’s six wins being the most. Stecher has a 3.34 ERA on the year and has struck out 49 batters in 71 1/3 innings of work.

Virginia owns a 21-11 series record against JMU, though the two teams did not meet last season. The Cavaliers and Dukes split a doubleheader in Charlottesville back in 2008.