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BLACKSBURG (hokiesports.com) - The Virginia Tech softball team will travel to Harrisonburg for a big non-conference doubleheader against in-state rival James Madison Wednesday at Veterans Memorial Park starting at 5 p.m.

The Hokies will enter at 23-9 overall and ranked 24th in the latest NCAA RPI while JMU is 27-9 and ranked 41st in the NCAA RPI. Based on the NCAA’s formula for RPI, teams receive bonus points for non-conference wins over RPI top-50 and top-25 teams, so this is a big date for both teams.

JMU features a strong offense under first-year head coach and former Radford skipper Mickey Dean. The Dukes are hitting .317 as a team with 32 home runs, 40 RBIs and 104 stolen bases - tops in the country. Sarah Mooney paces the offense with a .410 average and 10 home runs. Freshman Jailyn Ford is hitting.373 with nine home runs while Jasmine Butler is batting .362 with 29 pilfers. Three other regulars are hitting over .320 as well.

The pitching staff is equally as stout, posting a 1.90 team ERA. Heather Kiefer is 9-4 with a 1.20 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 82.0 innings while Ford is 14-2 with a 1.63 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 103.0 inning. Ford, from Bath County, was recently named to the USA Junior National Team.

Veterans Memorial Park is located adjacent to Memorial Hall at the intersection of Cantrell Avenue and South High Street and you can find directions here.

JMU will provide a free online broadcast for the doubleheader, which can be found here.

Live stats will be at the usual spot on hokiesports.com.

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