Virginia Tech Softball Readies For Commonwealth Clash Matchup At No. 19 Virginia

Virginia Tech softball heads north for its second Virginia road trip this week, traveling to Charlottesville to play No. 19 Virginia.

Consistency in the polls 👊#Hokies pic.twitter.com/vAYMOP5ET7
— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) April 8, 2026

In the circle, Emma Mazzarone will presumably start Friday's contest for No. 11 Virginia Tech (34-5, 9-3 ACC), with redshirt freshman Bree Carrico in the wings. Carrico has pitched an ACC-leading 1.39 earned run average through 21 appearances. In seven ACC games, she has sported a 0.86 ERA, going for 24 1/3 frames and allowing 13 hits, three runs (all earned) and nine walks. Moreover, the redshirt freshman has racked up 27 strikeouts and allowed just six extra-base hits against ACC competition.

It doesn't get much easier for the Cavaliers (32-6, 9-5 ACC) against Mazzarone, who's pitching at a 2.56 ERA in league play. Mazzarone has gone through four complete games in the ACC, throwing for 38 1/3 innings. In taht span, she's allowed 23 hits and 17 runs (14 earned). Though she's conceded 28 walks, she's also racked up a team-high 51 strikeouts and has held her league opponents to a .167 clip at the dish.

At the plate, Virginia Tech has produced an array of stellar hitters, one through nine. Nine Hokies (min. 20 AB) are hitting at a .300 clip in both overall play and league play. In overall play, three Hokies — third baseman Jordan Lynch (.469), center fielder Addison Foster (.427) and designated player/catcher Kylie Aldridge (.405) — are hitting at a .400-plus clip.

In league play, second baseman Rachel Castine has shone, racking up 14 hits, 10 runs and 23 total bases on a .500 clip at the plate. Lynch has hit a .488 clip in league play, while Foster and Aldridge are knocking at .462 and .441 rates respectively.

Elsewhere in the lineup, left fielder Nora Abromavage has thrived at cleanup, stacking up a .389 batting clip and mashing a team-high five home runs (tied with Lynch) in ACC play. All 10 of Virginia Tech's players with at least five at bats in league play have a slugging percentage of .500-plus.

Beyond Carrico and Mazzarone, the remainder of Virginia Tech's pitching staff has been tested or is green. Freshman Addyson Fisher has thrown for one inning in league play, while Avery Layton and Sophie Kleiman have been tagged for 14.00 and 16.33 ERAs, respectively.

Both Layton and Kleiman threw in Virginia Tech's midweek victory over Radford.

“We wanted to get some kids in that need work,” said Virginia Tech head coach Pete D'Amour about playing Layton and Kleiman against Radford. “Avery didn’t throw last weekend, and we’re going to need her. Same with Sophie. We tried to get those two innings and see what happened.”

The Hokies defeated the Highlanders, 7-2, though they conceded seven hits.

“Midweeks are always hard when you’re coming off conference series like we just came off of,” D'Amour said. “We were prepared to play well. We played clean and did enough to win.”

Virginia Tech is on a three-game winning streak, having claimed the final two games of its home series with Clemson last weekend. At one point in the season, the Hokies erupted on a 15-game winning streak, and after 24 games, they sat at a 22-2 mark — the best start in program history.

Virginia Tech's five losses this season were to Michigan State and Charlotte in the Queen City Classic, two losses to Duke that resulted in an ACC-opening series defeat and the series opener to Clemson on Thursday, April 2.

Virginia enters the series against Virginia Tech in an interesting position. The Cavaliers sustained a sweep to No. 16 Duke (5-2, 4-4-3, 8-4) after winning four straight series in league play, which came over North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Virginia is a two-headed monster in the circle, spearheaded by senior arms Courtney Layne and Eden Bigham. Bigham has logged a 3.10 ERA in 72 1/3 frames, while Layne has notched a 1.96 ERA in 82 innings of work.

At the dish, like Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers are potent. First baseman Macee Eaton (.464) and Bella Cabral (.411) are the mainstays of a potent UVa. offense, though Cabral sustained an injury and did not play in Virginia's midweek victory over Louisiana. Four Cavaliers have a plus-one OPS (on-base plus slugging; minimum five at-bats): Cabral (1.373), Eaton (1.339), shortstop Jade Hylton and left fielder Kelsey Hackett (1.037).

The Hokies' first game with the Cavaliers gets underway tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET (TV: ACC Network Extra). Saturday and Sunday's games will take place at 2 p.m. ET (ACCNX) and 4 p.m. ET (ACC Network), respectively.