Softball Opens Season At Kajikawa Classic Thursday

Story Links

Feb. 10, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team opens the 2016 season this weekend, traveling to compete at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State University. Competition begins Thursday (Feb. 11) and runs through the weekend.

The Cavaliers open the tournament on Thursday (Feb. 11) with two games. Virginia will face Utah State at Farrington Stadium on campus at Arizona State University at 4 p.m. ET before facing Boise State at the Tempe Sports Complex at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Competition will continue with two games Friday (Feb. 12) as the Cavaliers will face Northwestern at 4 p.m. ET and follow it immediately with a game against East Carolina. Both games will be played at the Tempe Sports Complex.

Saturday (Feb. 13) closes out the tournament for Virginia with a single game against San Jose State at 11:30 a.m. ET at the Tempe Sports Complex.

Fans can follow the action online with live stats at VirginiaSports.com or on social media by following the Cavaliers on Twitter at UVASoftball.

Virginia returns 11 letterwinners from last season, including the team’s top hitter and RBI producer in Kaitlin Fitzgerald (Placentia, Calif.) who hit .360 and tallied 42 RBI last season. The Cavaliers also return the team’s top home run hitter in Allison Davis (Oak Hill, Va.). In all, the returning players accounted for 46 of the team’s 55 home runs a year ago and 186-of-226 RBI.

Aimee Chapdelaine (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) is the top returning pitcher from the 2015 season. The right-hander made 17 appearances in the circle and worked 68.0 innings with a 4.53 ERA.

Virginia also welcomes six freshmen to the program, including Allie Arneson (Aledo, Texas), Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.), Tia Mitchell (Clarksburg, Md.), Lacy Smith (Lancaster, Pa.), Lexi Mettler (Turlock, Calif.) and Olivia Gott (Weston, Fla.).