Virginia To Host Clemson In Four-Game ACC Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (6-5, 2-3 ACC) continues to play at home this weekend, hosting Clemson (9-2, 4-2 ACC) in a four-game series at Palmer Park.

The series begins on Friday with a single game at 5 p.m. and continues throughout the weekend with a doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday and a single game at noon on Sunday.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Every game of the weekend series will be streamed on ACCNX which is available through the ESPN app to customers who have the ACC Network through their television provider. Live stats will also be available for all four games. Links to both the broadcast and live stats are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVASoftball).

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia is coming off a 3-1 performance at the Cavalier Classic last weekend that saw the Cavaliers drop the opener with JMU before taking three straight games against George Washington. Madison Harris (Forest, Va.) picked up a win and a save in the three games against the Colonials, closing out a 3-2 victory in the first game and then pitching the final 2.2 in a nine-inning affair in game two. Morgan Murphy (Chesapeake, Va.) picked up the win in the opening game with a career-high six strikeouts and 6.2 innings of work before delivering the walk-off double in the nine-inning game in the second meeting on the weekend. Virginia won the third game 3-1 to close out the weekend.

FRIEDMAN AND GOLDBERG LEAD CONSISTENTLY AT THE PLATE
Through the early part of the season, the duo of Donna Friedman (Orange, Calif.) and Katie Goldberg (Atlanta, Ga.) have been consistent leaders at the plate through the first 11 games. Friedman is hitting at a .378 clip with a pair of home runs and seven RBI, while Goldberg is batting .359 with one home run and five RBI. Both players have scored six runs this season. Both Cavaliers rank in the top 10 in the ACC in hits entering the weekend.

THE SERIES WITH CLEMSON
Virginia and Clemson have played each other three times with the teams meeting last season in the Tigers’ first year of competition as a program. Clemson won the first game in a walk-off before claiming the final two games to sweep the series at home.

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS
Clemson enters the weekend coming off a sweep of Elon in the last weekend of play. The Tigers are 4-2 in the ACC after sweeping three games with Georgia Tech in ACC pod play, while going 1-2 against Virginia Tech. The Tigers have three players hitting at .400 or above this season with Marissa Guimbarda leading the way with a .419 average to go along with a team-leading five home runs and 17 RBI. Valerie Cagle leads the squad in the circle with a 1.71 ERA and a 6-1 record through seven starts. She has struck out 45 and walked 11 through 41.0 innings of work.

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia is scheduled to continue play at home in the midweek with a non-conference contest against Virginia Tech on Tuesday (March 9). First pitch is set for 5 p.m. at Palmer Park. The Cavaliers will then jump back into conference play with a weekend series at Duke.