Softball to Play Five at ECU Pirate Invitational
Feb. 23, 2017
Virginia at ECU Pirate Invitational | |
Date/Time | Feb. 24-26 |
Location | Greenville, N.C. | East Carolina University |
Coverage | Live Stats (All Games) Live Video (ECU Games Only) |
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Virginia softball (5-6) will polish off a 16-game stint away from Charlottesville this weekend with five games at the East Carolina University Pirate Invitational. The Cavaliers will play split doubleheaders with ECU (5-5) and Seton Hall (3-0) on Friday and Saturday before a single game against Coppin State (1-7) on Sunday.
Play will begin Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. when the Cavaliers square off against Seton Hall for the first time since 2003. Virginia will then play in the day’s featured game at 6:30 p.m. against host-ECU. The matchups will repeat on Saturday with different start times, 9:30 a.m. versus Seton Hall and then 2:00 p.m. against ECU. The Cavaliers will wrap up the weekend with a Sunday duel against Coppin State at 11:45 a.m.
Live stats for all five games will be available courtesy of ECU athletic communications. Additionally, the two contests against ECU will be carried live on the Pirate All-Access Network free of charge.
Virginia is coming off a 3-3 weekend at the Charleston Southern Buccaneer Invitational and Elon. In the six-game span, six different Cavaliers combined for 13 home runs including five in the nightcap against Elon on Sunday to match a single-game, school record.
No one swung a hotter bat than sophomore Olivia Gott who hit .563 (9-for-16) last weekend with four home runs and eight RBIs. Her two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning of game two against Elon broke a 5-5 tie and proved to be the difference in the 7-5 victory. She hit safely in all six games and currently leads the team in batting average (.478), home runs (4) and RBIs (10).
Senior Iyana Hughes and junior Allison Davis have done their parts in the recent Cavalier power surge. Hughes went deep twice in the record-tying performance against Elon and hit the game-tying, solo home run in the top of the seventh inning. She matched a career-high with three hits, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the contest. Davis is currently second on the team with a .421 batting average and is tied with Gott for the team-lead in home runs.
The Cavaliers have benefited from the steady play of seniors McKall Miller and Madison Labshere. The two middle infielders have reached base in all 11 games this season and have combined to score 12 runs.
On the mound, Virginia tossed its first shutout of the season, a 9-0 blanking of ETSU last Saturday. Sophomore Lacy Smith did it all for the Cavaliers, tossing five scoreless innings and then ended the run-rule shortened game with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. The shutout and the home run were both the first of her collegiate career.
The five-game weekend in Greenville will be the final preparation for Atlantic Coast Conference play that is set to begin March 3-5 when the Cavaliers host Virginia Tech at The Park.