Virginia Tech Softball Readies For 2026 NCAA Regionals In Baton Rouge

The Hokies — fresh off a trip to the ACC title game for the first time since 2012 — kick off the Baton Rouge Regional tomorrow.

Virginia Tech Athletics

For the seventh time under head coach Pete D'Amour, Virginia Tech softball is in the NCAAs, set to begin regional play with South Alabama Friday at 4 p.m. ET (TV: ESPN+) in Baton Rouge, La.

Baton Rouge Regional
📅 May 15-17

(4) @LSUsoftball@ZipsSB@SouthAlabamaSB
(5) @HokiesSoftball#RoadToWCWS pic.twitter.com/TR03vE8BDu

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 10, 2026

Heading into the regional, Virginia Tech (46-10, 18-6 ACC) had won eight in a row prior to the ACC title game, sweeping UNC and Syracuse to round out its regular season ahead of the ACC Tournament.

In the tournament, which was conducted at Palmer Park in Charlottesville, Va., Virginia Tech moved past Virginia in the quarterfinals 3-1 — largely thanks to junior arm Emma Mazzarone's career-high 14-strikeout performance — and then shut out Duke 5-0.

The Hokies thus advanced to their first ACC championship game since the 2012 season, though they lost to Florida State 2-1. Florida State's two runs scored was tied for its fourth-fewest, only behind a 9-1 loss to then-No. 3 Tennessee and a pair of losses to then-No. 9 Alabama (8-0, 9-1), which enters the NCAAs as the top national seed.

Virginia Tech's surge has been aided by both strong pitching and strong hitting, as is typical for the team under D'Amour. In the circle, the Hokies have relied upon a pair of strong arms in Mazzarone and redshirt freshman Bree Carrico.

Mazzarone has thrown for 127.2 frames in the circle, allowing 53 earned runs for a 2.91 ERA while racking up 168 strikeouts and totaling nine complete games. Entering regional play, opponents are hitting at only a .180 clip against Mazzarone. Carrico, meanwhile, has pitched at an ACC-best 1.63 ERA in 107.1 frames, allowing 25 earned runs and 121 strikeouts.

Moreover, the Hokies boast a strong top-to-bottom effort at the plate. Eight of the Hokies' routine nine starters are hitting at a .300-plus batting average, with third baseman Jordan Lynch (.432) and center fielder Addison Foster (.423) leading the way. Elsewhere in the lineup, Virginia Tech has other key weapons.

Junior first baseman Michelle Chatfield holds a .383 batting average; she totaled four hits in seven at-bats in the ACC Tournament for a .571 clip at the dish. Senior Kylie Aldridge is batting a career-best .369, and left fielder Nora Abromavage has stepped into a highly elevated role in year two, hitting at a .350 clip and mashing a joint-team-high 18 home runs (tied with Lynch).

While Virginia Tech is guaranteed to play South Alabama, it will also play one or both of LSU and Akron. The Jaguars won the Sun Belt title, while Akron won the MAC title. LSU was one of nine SEC schools to earn a top-16 national seed.

South Alabama sports an all-right-handed pitching lineup, headlined by junior Rylee Harrison (2.42 ERA). Across the season, Harrison has compiled 194 strikeouts while allowing 68 earned runs. At the dish, freshman catcher Kara Wine is hitting at a team-best .323, and she enters off a 5-of-10 performance in the Sun Belt Tournament.

Akron is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tounrament; at the plate, it is anchored by senior outfielder Meagan Lee. The two-time All-MAC First Team honoree hasn't hit a home run this season, though she's strung together 80 hits en route to a .419 batting average. In the circle, the Zips have two options that have gone for 100-plus frames this season in juniors Madie Jamrog (3.43 ERA, 177.1 IP) and Macy Walters (4.91 ERA, 135.1 IP).

LSU headlines the tournament; the No. 16 seed, the Tigers lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament but won both of their matchups against Virginia Tech last season, doing so via 7-4 and 7-2 scores.

Sophomore left-hander Jayden Heavener has pitched 126.1 frames on the rubber, yielding 52 earned runs and 16 homers for a 2.88 ERA; at the plate, Julia Lassiter has totaled 60 hits and a .353 batting average to lead LSU.

Virginia Tech's venture to Baton Rouge, La., marks the fourth straight season that the team ventures outside the friendly confines of Tech Softball Park for a regional. The Hokies' regional bid was declined, though Division I Softball Committee chair Natalie Honnen said that the decision was not impacted by Virginia Tech's inability to host — a factor caused by the lack of available hotels due to the university's impending commencement ceremonies.

"What I'm saying is that Virginia Tech is not a top-16 seed,” Honnen said. “So, from a host perspective, if there was a situation where Tech was in the top 16, they were not going to be able to host because of the locations of the hotels that were outside of our parameters. But that did not come into our thought process when we were seeding the top 16."

Should the Hokies win tomorrow's tilt against the Jaguars, they will play on Saturday, May 16, against the winner of the LSU/Akron game.