Cavaliers Host Liberty Tuesday To Open Homestand

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (26-11) returns home for a five-game homestand that kicks off on Tuesday night (April 9) when the Cavaliers host Liberty (22-16) in a 7 p.m. contest at Palmer Park.

PROMOTIONS ON SITE

• It’s Taco Tuesday at Palmer Park and fans can get $3 tacos on site.
• It’s raffle time and the Hoos will be raffling off an item each inning with items such as official team gear and tickets to next week’s non-conference contest against Virginia Tech.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
Tuesday night’s contest against Liberty will be broadcast on ACC Network and will be streamed on the ESPN app and at WatchESPN.com. Live stats are also available for the game. Links to the live stats and stream are available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates can also be found on the program’s official account (@UVASoftball) on X.

QUICK HITS

• The Cavaliers enter the week ranked No. 24 in the Softball America rankings this week, making it the first time since the 1995 season for the Hoos to be nationally ranked.
• Virginia comes home for a five-game homestand after playing the last seven games on the road – a stretch that saw UVA go 6-1 in those road games and win a series at Notre Dame.
• The Cavaliers went 2-1 at Notre Dame this past weekend to make it back-to-back series wins over the Irish in what was the third-ever series win over the Irish.
• Virginia has now won four of five ACC series played this season, going to a rubber match in all five series and claiming that rubber match game four out of those five times.
• Eden Bigham continues to be one of the top pitchers in the ACC and the NCAA, ranking second in the league in fewest hits per 7.0 IP (3.89) and strikeouts (132).
• Madi Harris ranks 25th nationally in ERA (1.31) to help anchor the Virginia pitching staff.
• Jade Hylton continues to power the Virginia offense, but has been joined by a surging Bella Cabral and Leah Boggs at the plate.
• Cabral hit a pair of home runs at Notre Dame and leads the team with 26 RBI. She is hitting .319 in ACC play, while Boggs is hitting at a .350 clip in conference games.
• The Hoos rank 35th nationally in steals (60) and are led by Hylton with 11 steals.
• Virginia enters the week with an RPI of 29 and a strength of schedule of 30.
• Heading down the stretch, every game left on the UVA schedule is against a team in the top 61 in RPI and seven of those come on the road.

THE SERIES WITH LIBERTY

• Virginia leads the all-time series with Liberty 49-30 and the Hoos lead 28-11 in home games.
• The Cavaliers won the first meeting between the teams this year, taking a 3-1 victory at Liberty.
• The teams split a home-and-home series last year with the home team winning each meeting.

ON DECK FOR THE HOOS

• Virginia continues play this weekend with a three-game series against NC State.
• The series kicks off at 7 p.m. on Friday night in a game broadcast on ACC Network.
• Game two of the series will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday with Alumni Day at Palmer Park.
• Game three of the series is set for noon on Sunday and will be Senior Day.