Hoos Continue Road Swing At Villanova

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (22-10) continues to play on the road this weekend with a two-game set at Villanova (18-11) this weekend. The series begins with a 4:30 p.m. game on Friday (March 29) and continues with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday (March 30).

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Both games of the two-game set will be streamed by FloSoftball as part of a subscription. Live stats are also available. Links to the stream and live stats are at VirginiaSports.com and fans can get updates by following the program’s official account (@UVASoftball) on X.

QUICK HITS

• Virginia continues to play on the road this weekend with two games at Villanova as part of a seven-game road swing for the Hoos
• The Cavaliers are coming off a pair of wins over in-state foes with a 3-1 win at Liberty on Tuesday and a 12-3 run-rule win at JMU on Wednesday
• Eden Bigham struck out nine batters in relief at Liberty to secure the win, passing her season total in strikeouts from a year ago through only 80 innings of work this season
• Bigham’s 116 strikeouts is second in the ACC and 10th nationally entering the weekend
• She also ranks top 10 nationally in strikeouts per 7.0 innings (7th – 10.2) and in fewest hits allowed per 7.0 innings (8th – 3.41)
• The offense caught fire at JMU with the Hoos scoring a season-high 12 runs – including a three-run home run from Shelby Barbee and a three-RBI double from Kelsey Hackett
• Several Hoos set or matched career highs in that outing at JMU with Macee Eaton scoring a career-high three runs, Kelsey Hackett’s three RBI was a career high and Shelby Barbee tied her career high with three RBI
• Madi Harris, who was named ACC Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday, is third in the ACC in ERA at 0.79 and ranks seventh nationally
• Virginia enters the weekend with an RPI of 30 and a strength of schedule of 22. The Villanova matchup are a chance to build the resume as the Wildcats are the highest RPI team in the Big East at 69

THE SERIES WITH VILLANOVA

• Virginia and Villanova have faced off five times prior to this weekend with the Wildcats leading the all-time series 3-2 against the Hoos.
• This weekend marks the first meetings between the team since the 2004 season when Villanova took a 3-2 victory over the Hoos in Houston.
• It is the first time the teams will meet at Villanova with three games having come at neutral sites and two in Charlottesville.