Virginia Hosts No. 13 Duke In Weekend Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (22-16, 8-4 ACC) closes out an eight-game homestand this weekend with a  three-game series against No. 13 Duke (29-5, 11-2 ACC) at Palmer Park. The series begins with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. on Saturday (April 9).

TICKETS AND PROMOTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND

• Tickets are available at UVATix.com and fans get discounted tickets with advance purchase online

• Youth (ages 18 and under) can attend all remaining regular season softball games for free in general admission seating based on availability. To claim free youth tickets, fans are REQUIRED to purchase a minimum of one paid adult ticket (maximum of four youth tickets per paid adult ticket). The offer is online only and not available at the box office.

• The first 100 fans on Saturday will receive a free UVA Softball tumbler. Concessions deals also include $3 popcorn.

• Sunday’s will be Kids Take Over Palmer Park Day and kids will be invited to the field for the anthem with the team. Balloon artists will be on site along with other entertainment features. Kids will be selected at random to introduce batters over the PA system. After the game, kids are invited to the field to run the bases, get autographs and meet the team.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
All three games of the weekend series will be streamed on ACCNX which is available to subscribers through the ESPN app and ESPN.com. Live stats are also available for all three games. Links to the stream and live stats are available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVASoftball).

NOTING THE HOOS
• Virginia is closing out an eight-game homestand after opening the season with 27-of-33 games on the road.
• Sarah Coon continues to lead the Hoos at the plate with a .298 batting average and also leads the team in doubles (10) and walks (20) after drawing three walks against JMU in the last outing.
• Tori Gilbert continues to lead the team in home runs (10) and has hit a home run in each of the last three ACC series, including two homers in both the NC State and Boston College series.
• Leah Boggs continues to lead the ACC in runners caught stealing, throwing out 12 runners on steal attempts.
• UVA is coming off a 7-1 win over JMU marking the 14th time this season the Hoos have scored more than six runs
• Scoring early has been a predictor of success for UVA this season with the Cavaliers going 18-1 when leading after four innings. The Hoos have scored 92 of 174 runs through the first three innings this season.
• Virginia has been able to hold on to leads as well, going 15-0 when leading after five innings. Virginia has held teams to only 47 runs scored over the final three innings of games this season.

THE SERIES WITH DUKE
• Virginia and Duke have faced each other 10 times in the short history of the series and the Blue Devils lead 9-1.
• Duke took all four games last season, rallying in game three of the series to claim the 10-9 victory in 9 innings.
• Virginia hit four home runs in that game three meeting (Covington, Friedman, Gilbert and Goldberg).
• The lone win for UVA came in the middle game of the 2019 series in Charlottesville, a 2-1 victory.