Virginia Kicks Off Palmer Park Clash On Saturday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (13-4) continues to play at home this weekend with the two-day Palmer Park Clash beginning on Saturday (March 4). Virginia hosts DePaul (6-7), Fairfield (3-2), George Mason (7-3) and Saint Francis (5-7) in the weekend event.

PALMER PARK CLASH SCHEDULE
Saturday, March 4
9:00 a.m.                 Saint Francis vs. George Mason
11:30 p.m.              DePaul vs. Saint Francis
2:00 p.m.                 George Mason vs. Fairfield
4:30 p.m.                 DePaul vs. Virginia
7:00 p.m.                 Fairfield vs. Virginia

Sunday, March 5
10:00 a.m.               Saint Francis vs. George Mason
12:30 p.m.               Fairfield vs. DePaul
3:00 p.m.                 Saint Francis vs. Virginia
5:30 p.m.                 George Mason vs. Virginia

PARKING INFORMATION
Due to multiple overlapping events on Grounds on Saturday, including men’s basketball, parking is available at the Emmett/Ivy Garage and shuttles will be running from the garage to the Palmer Park entrance from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fans should plan for heavy traffic in the afternoon and should not plan to access the area by vehicle between 4:00 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. due to outbound traffic exiting the area following men’s basketball.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Virginia’s games will be streamed on ACCNX which is available through WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app. Live stats are also available and links to be the live stats and stream are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVASoftball).

QUICK HITS

• Virginia closes out a streak of 11  straight games at Palmer Park after starting the first two weeks on the road.
• The Hoos will be facing a pair of teams that they have never faced before this weekend in DePaul and Fairfield, while the Hoos have faced Saint Francis once.
• The Cavaliers are coming off a doubleheader sweep of Radford and have won seven straight games – the most since UVA won eight straight in 2019 (3/1 – 3/13).
• The Hoos have gotten solid performances in the circle to start the season with a pair of pitchers boasting ERAs in the top 53 nationally – Molly Grube (0.89) and Eden Bigham (0.96).
• UVA also has three in the top 100 as Jenny Bressler holds a 1.47 ERA to rank 100th nationally in ERA.
• The Hoos have been aggressive on the basepath this season, tallying 42 steals entering the weekend and ranking 13th nationally in steals per game (first in the ACC).
• Virginia has posted five run-rule victories in the last six games, including four straight to close the Cavalier Classic which is the most since four straight run-rule victories in 2009 (2/22 – 3/7).
• Head coach Joanna Hardin broke the 200-win plateau on Tuesday night with the Cavaliers’ win over Radford in the first game of a doubleheader. She now has 201 wins for her career.
• The Cavaliers have three underclassmen leading the run production with MC Eaton (5HR, 15 RBI), Jade Hylton (5HR, 13 RBI) and Sarah Coon (5 HR, 12 RBI) leading the way.

THE SERIES WITH SAINT FRANCIS

• Virginia and Saint Francis have met once before in softball with the Cavaliers taking a victory in 2003.
• The Hoos won that meeting 9-0 in the Cougar Classic in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

THE SERIES WITH GEORGE MASON

• Virginia and George Mason have met on the softball field 89 times with the Cavaliers leading the series 61-28.
• The Hoos have won three consecutive in the series with the last coming with a pair of games in the 2018 season.
• Virginia leads the series 29-14 in games played at home in Charlottesville.