Virginia Faces North Florida Friday To Open NCAA Regional Play

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 25 Virginia softball team (37-17) opens NCAA Regional play on Friday (May 16) when the Cavaliers take on North Florida (45-13) at 3 p.m. at the Carolina Softball Stadium at South Carolina. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the Cavaliers are the No. 2 seed in the double-elimination regional.

NCAA COLUMBIA REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, May 16
3 p.m. – North Florida vs. Virginia
5:30 p.m. – Elon vs. South Carolina

Saturday, May 17
1 p.m – Loesr Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
3:30 p.m. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
6 p.m. – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Sunday, May 18
1 p.m. – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 4
3:30 p.m. – If Necessary Game

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION
The opening-round games of the NCAA Columbia Regional are set to stream on ESPN+ through the ESPN app and at ESPN.com. Live stats are also available and links to the stream and live stats are at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official account on X (@UVASoftball).

NOTING THE HOOS
• Virginia earned its second straight NCAA Regional bid – and third ever – with this season’s appearance
• UVA is the two seed in the Columbia Regional and faces ASUN champion North Florida in the regional opener
• The trip is a full circle moment as Virginia opened the 2025 season at South Carolina’s Gamecock Invitational
• The Cavaliers sit at 27 in the RPI at the end of the regular season and played 26 games against teams in the top 56 of the RPI with 12 coming on the road and seven at a neutral site for a 26 overall strength of schedule
• Viginia had three players selected for All-ACC honors last week with Eden Bigham and Jade Hylton taking first team honors and Macee Eaton taking second team honors
• Bella Cabral and Hylton have been stellar up the middle and on the left side for the Hoos as Cabral is tops in the ACC in assists (110) and Hylton is fourth (105) entering the regional
• The duo have helped UVA rank as the seventh best defense in the NCAA field based on defensive runs saved according to 643 Charts with almost 49 runs saved by the Cavalier defense
• The junior SS also needs one runs to take over the stop spot on the Virginia single-season list for runs scored as she enters the regional tied with the mark set by Heather Field (60 in 2004)
• 1B Macee Eaton took over the top spot on the Virginia single-season list for RBI (59) with her two-run shot against Clemson in the ACC quarterfinal – passing two-time All-America Kristen Dennis’ mark set in 2002
• As a team, the Virginia offense has been rewriting the record book and this season have hit the most RBI (296), home runs (64) and extra base hits (173) – the Hoos are 5 runs away from setting the single-season run mark
• The 14 wins is one off last season’s program record 15 ACC wins and is the third time in four seasons UVA has hit at least 13 wins in ACC play

THE SERIES WITH NORTH FLORIDA
• Virginia and North Florida have faced twice before in the history of the programs, splitting the two games played
• Both previous meetings came at neutral sites in the 2008 and 2009 seasons
• The Ospreys won the first meeting 6-3 in 2008 before Virginia won the second meeting 1-0 in 2009