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BLACKSBURG – Twenty-three home games, plus two tournaments in Florida, including the ACC/Big Ten Challenge highlight the 2016 Virginia Tech softball schedule, released by head coach Scot Thomas on Wednesday.

The Hokies, who concluded 2015 with their fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, will participate in three early spring season tournaments: South Florida, ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and USC Upstate. The early matchups feature six opponents who made the 2015 NCAA tournament, including national champion Florida and runner-up Michigan.

“The schedule in the spring is very tough with high RPI potential,” Thomas said. “No doubt learning our top of the order on the fly is not ideal, but I think it’s going to be exciting to compete against the country’s best and use that as positive experience for the rest of the season.”

The Hokies will open their 2016 home slate with non-conference opponent Radford (March 2), followed by five additional later in the season: Liberty (March 30), Mercer (April 2), Hampton (April 3), James Madison (April 6), and Western Carolina (April 19). Tech will also play host to four ACC foes, including Notre Dame and ACC championship runner-up Pittsburgh, who both made the postseason last year.

The Hokies will travel to reigning ACC champion Florida State, as well as NC State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Longwood, Radford, Elon, and ETSU.

Tech opens their eight-game fall slate on Sept. 27, playing host to East Tennessee State and the University of Charleston in a double header. Tech will play four matches in Botetourt, Va. on Oct. 3 and 4 before returning home to close out fall play against West Virginia Wesleyan on Oct. 10 in a double header.

“Our fall schedule gives us a great opportunity to get a good look at our new kids,” Thomas said. “I am very excited to put several lineups together and see how they play out. Unfortunately not having Breanna (Davenport) available as our lead for the fall will still leave us with questions to answer in the spring.”

Davenport, the Hokies’ top hitter in 2015 and lead off, underwent surgery on Aug. 28 after reaggravating an ankle injury at the end of the spring season.

For the entire schedule, click here.

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