No. 23 Hoos Jump Into ACC Play At No. 17 Virginia Tech

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia softball team (16-5) goes out on the road this weekend to face No. 17 Virginia Tech (17-4) in a three-game series at the Tech Softball Stadium. The weekend series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday (March 7) and is a Smithfield Commonwealth Clash matchup between the teams.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The weekend series will be streamed on ACCNX and is available through the ESPN app and at ESPN.com. Live stats are also available for the series. Links to the live stats and the stream are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVASoftball).

NOTING THE HOOS

• Virginia enters the weekend series on a 12-game win streak dating back to a 7-6 win over No. 4 UCLA in the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational.
• The Cavaliers enter the weekend series ranked in three of the four national polls, coming in at No. 23 in the Softball America, D1Softball and ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings. The Hoos are receiving votes in the NFCA Coaches Poll which is the longest running of the four polls.
• The win streak is the longest since the 2001 season when Virginia had separate win streaks of 11 games, 12 games and 13 games on the way to 52 wins.
• Junior RHP Eden Bigham threw a perfect game in her last outing against Hofstra (3/1) for the first perfect game by a Cavalier since Michelle Collins vs. Coastal Carolina (4/8/94).
• Savanah Henley matched her UVA high in strikeouts with nine in Tuesday’s win over Longwood, matching a mark set against No. 5 Texas A&M in an 8-inning complete game.
• Bella Cabral and Jade Hylton were both tabbed by Softball America for the midseason power rankings with Bella (10) and Hylton (8) ranked at third and short, respectively.
• Cabral isn’t just about offense, however, as she ranks fifth nationally in assists and has helped the Hoos rank in the top 50 nationally in double plays turned.
• Eight different Cavaliers have hit home runs this season with five of those hitting multiple home runs so far this season: MC Eaton (5), Jade Hylton (5), Bella Cabral (4), Macee Eaton (4) and Kelsey Hackett (2).
• The Hoos have been efficient early in games, outscoring opponents 96-20 through the first three innings this season.
• UVA has also been prone to scoring in bunches with Virginia scoring three or more runs in 26 innings, including a high of 13 runs in the third inning against Seton Hall (3/1).
  

THE SMITHFIELD COMMONWEALTH CLASH
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sports, points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions.

The softball series between Virginia and Virginia Tech counts as one point in the clash and goes to the team that wins the weekend series. The Cavaliers currently lead the Hokies 8-5 this season.