This Weekend’s Headlines
• After a four-game home stand, the Hokies hit the road for a big weekend series at in-state rival Virginia.
• The series is a big one for the Hokies as Virginia has been hot of late and has moved up to 69th in the latest NCAA RPI while Tech moved up to 54th this week.
• Due to weather concerns, the Hokies and Cavaliers will now play a doubleheader on Friday at The Park starting at 4 o’clock and will play the single game on Saturday at noon, weather permitting.
• Kenzie Roark set a new school record Wednesday in the win over Radford, picking up her fourth save of the season, passing Angela Tincher. Roark has nine saves for her career.

About Virginia
• Virginia has struggled lately, but has some big wins from early in the season and is bolstered by sophomore Melanie Mitchell in the circle. The Cavs will enter the weekend with a 19-22 overall mark and a 2-9 ACC record.
• Mitchell missed several weeks due to an injury, but is back healthy. She is 12-12 with a 3.29 ERA, but throws a ton of innings. She has 186 strikeouts in 159.2 innings, more than 115 innings more than next-closest pitcher on the staff. Stephanie Coates is 2-2 with a 4.89 ERA in 44.1 innings with 21 strikeouts while Erica Cipolloni is 5-5 with a 5.62 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. Don’t be surprised to see Mitchell get the start in all three games this weekend as the Cavaliers look to jockey for tournament position.
• Only two hitters bat over .300 for Virginia with Stephanie Harris leading the way at .331 and Giannina Cipolloni second at .306. The Cavaliers have only 11 home runs and play in a big ball park, but have stolen 81 bases this year and have 39 doubles and 11 triples while batting .254 as a team.

The Series With Virginia
• The two Virginia schools of the conference have met 39 prior times with Virginia Tech leading the series, 23-16. The Hokies won 10 of 11 games during a stretch of the 2006-09 seasons to take control of the series.
• Last season, however, Virginia swept the Hokies in Blacksburg en route to a second-place finish and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. But the Hokies got the best of the Cavaliers in the ACC Championship, beating them 1-0 in eight innings.
• Virginia Tech is 9-4 all-time against Virginia at The Park.

Gettin’ It Done At The Plate
• The Hokies have been producing at the plate all year and enter the weekend with a team batting average of .286. Sophomore Courtney Liddle leads the way with a .400 average while freshman Dani Anderson sits second with a .383 average. Marra Hvozdovic (.346) and Betty Rose (.330) have been pleasant surprises this year as the two are coming through in the clutch after hitting .239 and .107, respectively, a season ago.
• Five players have four or more home runs with Rose leading the way with seven. Kristen Froehlich has six, with Liddle right behind her with four. Tech has 31 home runs, 54 doubles, 11 triples, has drawn 165 walks, scored 246 runs, driven in 213 runs and stolen 78 bases.

Running Like the Wind
• The Hokies knew they had a lot of team speed heading into the season, but no one expected them to run like this. Through 41 games, Tech already has 78 stolen bases, putting it on pace for 107 for the regular season! The school record for a full season is 105, set in the 2009 campaign.
• Freshman Kat Banks leads the way with 21 swipes while Ashton Ward is second with 11 pilfers, followed by Sarah Ashby (10) and Dani Anderson (9).
• Twice this year, Tech has tied the school record for stolen bases in a game with seven (Rhode Island, Howard).

This Time Last Year … And What’s Left
• Tech sits at 31-11 overall after 42 games, already topping its win total from 2010 (25). After 42 games last season, the Hokies were 16-25.
• Barring any weather cancellations, the Hokies have 15 games left on the schedule (nine conference, six mid-week, and all regional contests). With an RPI of 54th in the NCAA, Tech will look to make a strong run down the stretch to position itself for its first postseason bid since the 2008 season, when the team went to the WCWS.

For updates on Virginia Tech softball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Softball).