Virginia Hosts NC State In Four-Game Set Starting Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (6-13, 2-11 ACC) returns home to host NC State (12-6, 8-6 ACC) in a four-game series at Palmer Park this weekend. Play begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday (March. 20) with a doubleheader before the teams will play single games at 1 p.m. on Sunday (March 21) and 2 p.m. on Monday (March 22).

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).

THE SERIES WITH NC STATE
Virginia and NC State have faced each other 45 times with NC State leading the all-time series 28-17, though the series is knotted at 11-11 in games played in Charlottesville. Virginia swept the last meeting, taking all three games in Raleigh during the 2019 season including a run-rule shutout in the opener that season.

GOLDBERG ON FIRE FOR THE HOOS
Sophomore infielder Katie Goldberg (Atlanta, Ga.) is riding a seven-game hit streak entering the weekend after batting at a .429 clip last weekend in the series at Duke. She currently leads the team at the plate with a .353 average on the season and has scored a team-leading 10 runs. She is third on the squad in RBI with nine and tied for the team lead in home runs with three, matching the home run output of Kate Covington (McLean, Va.), Donna Friedman (Orange, Calif.) and Tori Gilbert (Mechanicsville, Va.).

WEAVER MAKES MOST OF STARTS AT DUKE
Freshman Abby Weaver (Roanoke, Va.) made the most of her opportunities with starts in the final two games of the series at Duke. The infielder went 2-for-5 with a run scored in game three against the Blue Devils before turning in a 2-for-2 performance with two runs scored and an RBI off her first collegiate home run in the finale.

A LOOK AT THE WOLFPACK
NC State comes into the weekend with a 12-6 record and will be playing on the road for the first time this season after hosting 18 straight games to start the year. The Wolfpack are 8-6 in ACC play after winning the series against Boston College and Louisville in ACC pod play and taking three games of a four-game set with Georgia Tech. Last weekend, the Wolfpack dropped three of four to Virginia Tech in their most recent outing.

Offensively, NC State has a pair of players batting above .400 with Tatyana Forbes hitting at a .414 clip and Angie Rizzi batting .404 this year. Logan Morris is hitting at a .388 clip with a team-leading 19 RBI, while Randi Farricker has seven home runs for the Wolfpack.

Abby Trahan (7-2) has a team-leading eight starts in the circle. She has a 3.85 ERA and has held opponents to a .253 batting average against. In her 43.2 innings of work, she has struck out 39 and walked 12.