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Virginia Commences Conference Play at Georgia Tech
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (13-5) opens Atlantic Coast Conference play with a three-game series at Georgia Tech this weekend in Atlanta. The Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday before concluding the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Live statistics will be linked on VirginiaSports.com along with links for live audio and video, provided by Georgia Tech.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 2-3 weekend at the Citrus Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and will look to rebound from a three-game slide. Junior shortstop Alex Skinkis (La Palma, Calif.) leads Virginia at the plate with a .333 average, while sophomore Erica Cipolloni (Philadelphia, Pa.) adds a .321 average and a conference-leading five home runs. Junior pitcher Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) is 8-3 on the year with a 1.43 ERA. She has 91 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work on the year.
Georgia Tech (15-9) beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 9-1 in six innings Thursday at home. The Yellow Jackets are receiving votes in both national polls.
Sophomore Alysha Rudnik leads the GT offense with a .362 average and 15 RBI while classmate Ashley Thomas contributes a .307 average and has a team-best 14 steals. The 2011 ACC Player of the Year, Kelsi Weseman, is batting .360 with nine RBI and four home runs in 10 games. In the circle, junior pitcher Hope Rush is 9-5 on the season with a 2.14 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 91.2 innings of work.
Virginia has a 34-31 edge over Georgia Tech in the all-time series between the two teams. Last year at the ACC Championship, the Cavaliers became the first No. 8 seed to upset the top seed with a 6-0 win over Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets won both games of a rain-shortened series in Charlottesville during the regular season.
While in Atlanta, the Cavaliers will put on a free clinic for elementary and middle school kids at Urban Perform Friday from 3-5 p.m. More information about the organization and clinic is available online at urbanperform.org.