Virginia Plays at Maryland This Weekend

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (20-18, 5-7 ACC) plays at ACC foe Maryland in a three-game series this weekend in College Park, Md. The Cavaliers and Terrapins will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday before concluding the series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Live statistics for all three games will be linked on VirginiaSports.com. Game three on Sunday will be streamed online via a paid subscription provided by Maryland.

Virginia currently sits in fifth place in the ACC standings, while Maryland (20-17, 0-6 ACC) is seeking its first win in conference play.

The Cavaliers split a doubleheader with Radford at home on Wednesday. Junior pitcher Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) threw a one-hitter in Virginia’s 7-1 victory. On the season, Mitchell is 14-9 and her 1.43 ERA ranks third among conference pitchers.

Sophomore Erica Cipolloni (Philadelphia, Pa.) leads Virginia at the plate with a .286 average followed by junior Alex Skinkis (La Palma, Calif.), who hits .282. Sophomore Marcy Bowdren (Fairfax Station, Va.) paces the offense with 30 hits and 23 RBI.

Virginia enters the weekend with a .234 average as a team, compared to Maryland’s .260 average at the plate.

The Terps are coming off a series at Georgia Tech and were swept by the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta. Maryland opened conference play vs. Virginia Tech and was also swept by the Hokies.

Kathy McLauglin leads the Terrapins with a .350 average, a mark that ranks third in the conference. She also posts a team-best six doubles. Bree Hanafin hits .297 and leads the offense with 26 RBI on the year.

In the circle, Kendra Knight leads the Maryland pitching corps. Knight is 13-10 on the year with a 3.11 ERA and has 171 strikeouts in 146.1 innings of work.

Virginia is 31-19 all-time against Maryland, but the Terps took both games of a rain-shortened series last year in Charlottesville.