How to Watch: Virginia Tech Softball vs Alabama in Tuscaloosa Regional

After the Hokies and Crimson Tide both knocked off the mid-major conference champions in Friday's action, that sets up a contest between two power-four conference teams looking to secure their spot in the regional championship game.

Here's how to watch Saturday's Contest:

No.2 Virginia Tech Hokies (42-11, 18-6 ACC) vs No.1 Alabama Crimson Tide (38-21, 12-12)

Date/Time • Saturday, May 17 at noon EST STADIUM • Rhoades Stadium – Tuscaloosa, Alabama TV/ONLINE • Saturday's contest will be on ESPN+

A preview ahead of the Saturday matchup:

Rhoades Stadium bore witness to two shutout victories in the opening round of regional play on Friday.

Firstly, the Hokies' ace Emma Lemley tossed a one-hit-six-inning performance against the Missouri Valley Conference champions in the Belmont Bruins.

Propelled by what the Hokies' offense does so well--the long ball. Two home runs from freshman Jordan Lynch and junior Kylie Aldridge added to Tech's triple-digit home run count for the season (104), which the Hokies are ranked second nationally for that count.

The Crimson Tide had no choice but to watch the Hokies win their game ahead of the contest with the Jackson State Tigers. Not only matching Tech's one-hit shutout victory--but doing so in only five innings.

A game that stayed dormant until the third inning when Alabama netted four runs, before tacking on two in the fourth and capping off the fifth with a wild pitch score to end the game early.

This will set up a third matchup this season between the Hokies and the Crimson Tide, all taking place in Tuscaloosa. Tech head coach Pete D'Amour prepares his team by scheduling tough road matchups early in the season to prepare his team. Which just happened to be a contest with Alabama back in February.

A series that produced two vastly different outcomes in the early season. The Hokies took game one in the series in a tightly contested pitchers' duel, escaping with a 2-1 win on the back of an impressive performance from Lemley.

The Crimson Tide adjusted overnight to the Hokies' pitching, overpowering game two for a 9-1 run-rule victory.

This will be the 18th coaching matchup for D'Amour, dating back to his days on the coaching staff at Missouri.

Riding off the momentum of the opening regional round, the winner's bracket game Saturday between Tech and Alabama could be a shootout.

The Hokies' depth-rich lineup is led by ACC Player of the Year Cori McMillan, who walked and scored in Friday's contest against Belmont. McMillan's 0.58 games per home run leads the nation, and based on that statistic, without a home run on Friday--McMillan is due.

Even without the offensive presence from McMillan on Friday, the Hokies piled five runs against the nation's strikeout leader, Maya Johnson, who has four no-hitters along with Lemley on the season.

Bama plays competition in the toughest RPI conference in the nation, proving they know how to hold their own in a dog fight with any offense.

It's cliche to say the pitching will be the decisive factor in Saturday's matchup. With the threat looming of two powerful offenses, however, the spotlight will be on the circle to hold it down for the win for either side.

At stake for the winner: A ticket punched into the regional finals to take on the winner of the losers' bracket. The loser will take on the winner of Belmont and Jackson State in an attempt to make the regional finals later in the evening on Saturday.

Setting up the regional finals on Sunday--which is still double elimination, meaning the team in the losers bracket would need to win back-to-back games to advance to the Super Regionals to take on the winner of the Norman Regional in Oklahoma.

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