Virginia Travels To No. 4 Florida State For Weekend Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (27-13, 7-8 ACC) heads back out on the road for a three-game series this weekend at No. 4 Florida State (33-7, 11-1 ACC). First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 6 p.m. at Joanne Graf Field.

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

LEADING OFF

• The weekend’s series at No. 4 FSU is back-to-back weekends against top-13 teams and is the second ACC road series against a fourth-ranked opponent this season for the Hoos.
• UVA is coming off a 30 win over Liberty with home runs from Jade Hylton and Tori Gilbert.
• Virginia continues to lead the ACC in stolen bases (88) and is 14th nationally in steals.
• Kelly Ayer and Jade Hylton are second and third in the ACC in steals this season. Hylton is second and has 20 steals on the year, while Ayer is third with 19 steals this season.
• Virginia’s 88 stolen bases is the sixth most in a single season and is three shy of tying the 1999 team for fifth most in a season (91).
• As a staff, the Cavaliers are fourth in the ACC in earned run average (2.17) and are second in the ACC in shutouts (12) – which ranks 15th nationally in the category.
• The Hoos also put one of the nation’s top defenses on the field for the second straight season. UVA is second in the ACC in fielding percentage (.979) and 12th nationally.
• The Hoos turned in a program best fielding percentage of .976 a year ago.
• Shelby Barbee hit her first home run of her career in the series opener against Virginia Tech and the Hoos have hit 42 home runs which is seventh most in a season for the Hoos.
• With the win over Liberty, the Hoos moved up to 52 in the RPI as Virginia continues to make a push down the stretch for ACC standing and an NCAA Tournament bid.

THE SERIES WITH FLORIDA STATE

• Virginia and Florida State have faced off 107 times with the Seminoles leading the series 89-18
• FSU leads 51-9 in games played in Tallahassee with the last meeting at FSU coming in the 2015 season
• The 2017, 2019 and 2022 meetings all came at UVA as the 2020 meeting at FSU was canceled due to COVID
• The teams faced each other four times last season with the three-game series in Charlottesville and a meeting in the ACC Tournament hosted by Pittsburgh.

ON DECK FOR THE HOOS

• Virginia returns home next week for four games at Palmer Park.
• The Hoos host a non-conference game against JMU on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
• The Cavaliers then host Louisville in a three-game series over the weekend for the final home contests.
• It will be Alumni Weekend at Palmer Park for the Louisville series and Sunday will be Senior Day.