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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (20-21, 5-10 ACC) will visit Atlantic Coast Conference rival Virginia Tech for a three-game series this weekend at the Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg, Va. The Cavaliers, with two regular season series remaining, sit in fifth place in the league standings.

Live statistics for all three games will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Virginia Tech will provide a subscription-based audio broadcast for both games of the doubleheader Saturday as well as a subscription-based video broadcast Sunday.

The Cavaliers were swept at Maryland over the weekend and will look to bounce back against Virginia Tech, which stands in fourth place with a 9-5 conference record. Midweek doubleheaders for both teams were rained out Wednesday.

UVa is led by sophomore Erica Cipolloni (Philadelphia, Pa.) at the plate with a .281 average; her six home runs also pace the squad. Classmate Marcy Bowdren (Fairfax Station, Va.) contributes a .258 average with a team-high 31 hits and 23 RBI. In the circle, junior pitcher Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) leads the pitching corps with a 1.58 ERA and 22 complete games. Mitchell’s 214 strikeouts are second among conference pitchers and her 1.58 ERA ranks third.

Virginia Tech (31-15) is led by junior Courtney Liddle’s .301 average; she also contributes 17 doubles and a team-best six home runs. Freshman Lauren Gaskill adds a .298 average and is hitting a whopping .375 in league games. Gaskill also paces the Hokies with a squad-best 34 runs and 42 hits to go along with 29 RBI on the year. Jasmin Harrell (Jr., 21-10, 1.99 ERA) and Bailey Liddle (Fr., 8-4, 2.99 ERA) lead the VT pitching staff.

The Hokies lead the all-time series with Virginia, 24-18, dating back to 1998. Last season in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers took two-of-three from Virginia Tech thanks to a late rally in game three of the series, a 6-5 UVa win.

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