Virginia Hosts North Carolina In Weekend Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (23-10, 4-5 ACC) kicks off a seven-game homestand this weekend with a three-game series against North Carolina (13-22, 3-6 ACC) at Palmer Park.

Due to expected inclement weather, the series will now begin with game one at 2 p.m. on Friday. Game times for Saturday and Sunday’s games remain unchanged.

TICKETS AVAILABLE
General admission tickets are available for all games of the weekend series and can be purchased online at UVATix.com

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
All three games will be streamed on the ESPN app and at ESPN.com. Friday and Saturday’s games are to be streamed on ACCNX, while Sunday’s finale is set for broadcast on ACC Network. Live stats are also available for all three games. Links to the live stats and streams are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVASoftball).

LEADING OFF

• Virginia enters the weekend holding a five-game win streak after posting a doubleheader sweep of Hofstra and a series sweep at Pittsburgh last weekend in ACC play
• The Hoos hit five home runs in the last outing and Tori Gilbert hit two on the weekend to move into third all-time in career home runs at Virginia with 30 for her career.
• Kelly Ayer (19) and Jade Hylton (18) both rank in the top three in the ACC in steals. Both also rank in the top 30 nationally with Ayer at 20th and Hylton at 29th in steals.
• The Hoos have been aggressive on the basepath with 83 steals – ranking ninth nationally and tops in the ACC. UVA is 83-of-94 on steal attempts this season.
• Hylton holds the team lead in home runs (8) and also leads the team in RBI (22) as eight players have tallied double digit RBI for the Hoos this season.
• Freshman RHP Eden Bigham ranks eighth nationally in fewest hits allowed per seven innings (3.22) and leads the ACC. She posted two complete game shutouts last week
• Bigham also ranks fourth in the ACC with her 83 strikeouts through 71.2 innings of work.
• All three UVA starters rank in the to 10 in the ACC in ERA, while Molly Grube joins Bigham among the top five in the ACC in fewest hits allowed per seven innings.
• Jenny Bressler has been clutch for the Hoos in several roles, ranking 12th nationally in saves (3) while also posting a 6-1 record through her 18 appearances and seven starts.
• As a pitching staff, the Cavaliers are second in the ACC with a 1.82 earned run average for the season.

THE SERIES WITH NORTH CAROLINA

• Virginia and North Carolina have faced each other 131 times with the Tar Heels leading the series 94-36-1.
• The teams last met in the opening weekend of the 2022 season in a non-conference matchup at a tournament hosted by South Carolina – a game won by UNC.
• The last ACC series between the teams came in the 2021 season and was a 2-2 split in Chapel Hill.
• This will be the first meeting between the teams in Charlottesville since the 2018 season.