Virginia Travels to Charlotte, Furman for Midweek Contests

Game Notes | Live Stats – Charlotte | Watch ($) Charlotte | Live Stats – Furman | Watch – Furman

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Fresh off a sweep to open Atlantic Coast Conference play, Virginia softball (11-9, 3-0 ACC) hits the road for midweek contests at Charlotte (8-11, 1-2 C-USA) on Tuesday (March 12) and Furman (7-15, 0-0 SoCon) on Wednesday (March 13).
 
First pitch in Charlotte is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday, while the Furman game will start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
 
GAME COVERAGE
Both midweek contests will be streamed on CUSA.tv and the SoCon Digital Network, respectively. Links to the broadcasts and live stats can be found on VirginiaSports.com.
 
HOOS SINGLES
• Virginia swept Pitt over the weekend to open ACC play at 3-0 for the first time since 2012.
• The sweep was also the first at home over an ACC foe since 2004.
• Senior Lacy Smith (Lancaster, Pa.) hit her eighth homer of the year against the Panthers, matching her career high in a single season just 20 games into 2019.
• Virginia has now won six consecutive games, marking the longest win streak for the Hoos since a seven-game run in 2017.
• The Cavaliers hit seven home runs in the series against Pitt, including back-to-back jacks in the seventh inning to lead a comeback in the finale.
 
KATE IS KRUSHING
• Sophomore Kate Covington (McLean, Va.) has launched an onslaught over the past six games, homering four times in the stretch.
• She hit her first career home run at Virginia against Buffalo on March 2. It took 68 games for the center fielder to break through in the home run column.
• She didn’t have to wait nearly as long for her second, going deep again the very next game against Norfolk State.
• Covington added a pair of homers against Pitt, including a game-tying shot in the Cavaliers’ series-finale comeback, and is hitting .429 in the last six games.
 
SMITH SENSATIONAL
• Smith leads the Cavaliers in batting average, RBI, home runs, slugging and on-base percentage.
• She hit her eighth home run of the year in the middle game of the Pitt series, matching her career-high for a season in just 19 games.
• With 23 RBI already this season, Smith is five shy of her career high and on pace to drive in 60 runs this season. That would break the UVA record set by Kristen Dennis in 2002.
• At her current pace, Smith would break Virginia’s single-season home run record of 13 by the end of March.
 
STREAKING
• Virginia has won six-straight games thanks to back-to-back 3-0 weekends.
• The six-game run is the longest for the Cavaliers since a seven-game stretch in 2017. It is just the third time Virginia has posted a winning streak of six or more games in this decade.
 
GILBERT GETS GOING
• Tori Gilbert (Mechanicsville, Va.) is one of three first-years who have seen time in left field this season.
• She has appeared in four consecutive games for the Hoos and has a hit in each of those four contests.
• She earned the start in the final two games of the Pitt series and went a combined 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored.
• She also recorded her first multi-hit game as a Cavalier in the middle game of the series.
 
VERSUS CHARLOTTE
• Virginia holds a 20-3 mark all-time against the 49ers.
• The Cavaliers and 49ers are meeting for the first time since 2005.
• Virginia is 9-2 all-time at Charlotte.
 
VERSUS FURMAN
• The all-time series between Virginia and Furman is tied 4-4.
• Virginia captured the only meeting this century, a 9-1 win in 2016.
• The remaining seven meetings all came between 1986-1989.
 
UP NEXT
Virginia continues its road trip and returns to ACC play with a three-game set at Georgia Tech over the weekend.