Virginia

Virginia Softball Looks To Continue to Make History As Postseason Play Approaches

Published

2 years ago

May 8, 2024

Virginia Softball Looks To Continue to Make History As Postseason Play Approaches

The 2023-2024 regular season campaign for the Virginia Cavaliers softball team wound up being far more impressive than outsiders initially predicted. The Hoos were slated to finish ninth out of 13 ACC teams, but instead finished fourth with a 32-17 record and a 15-9 record in the ACC, good for the team’s highest finish since 2010.

While the conference and non-conference schedules still had some blips, the Hoos won seven out of eight ACC series, including huge victories against Clemson and Duke, who were ranked eleventh and third at the time.

Clemson will get a rematch with Virginia on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Softball Tournament in Durham after the Cavaliers beat the Tigers twice in Charlottesville. In the March series that really ignited a run in the ACC, a bases loaded double from Bella Cabral helped Virginia storm back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 6-4 lead, and the Cavalier pitching staff did the rest. The defense was also impressive in a game three shutout, and Jade Hylton hit a late game home run to secure the 3-0 victory.

Madi Harris had a breakout series in the circle against Clemson, pitching 9.1 innings, earning two wins, and not giving up a single run. With that kind of performance, it’s possible that Virginia opts to give Harris the ball in the ACC quarterfinals, and we can see if she can once again stymie the Clemson offense.

In addition to Madi Harris in the circle, we will likely see UVA’s ace, Eden Bigham, who was honored as ACC pitcher of the week three times this season and she has pitched double the number of innings as the next pitcher (129.1 to 65.2 from Madi Harris). On Wednesday, Hylton was named to the All-ACC First Team.

Virginia’s offense struggled to produce runs early in the season, but it has improved significantly since then. Jade Hylton leads the way for Virginia in nearly every offensive category, including average (.342), runs (33), hits (53), doubles (12), home runs (12), on base percentage (.428), slugging percentage (.677), OPS (1.105), RBI (37), walks (24), and stolen bases (14). Hylton joined Bigham as Virginia’s two All-ACC First-Team selections.

Shelby Barbee has a hot bat after earning Co-ACC Player of the Week Honors for her Georgia Tech series where she went 6 for 9 with 7 RBI and three home runs. UVA is hoping that the week off between games doesn’t disrupt her streak. Another player to watch is freshman Bella Cabral, who has made clutch plays both on offense and at second base throughout the season. Cabral was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, while Barbee was an All-ACC Third-Team selection.

On Clemson’s side, reigning National Player of the Year Valerie Cagle is always a threat in the circle and at the plate. She is hitting .364 with an OPS of 1.057. Teammates McKenzie Clark and Maddie Moore also have OPS metrics of above 1.000, which is an impressive threshold to cross.

Regan Spencer has pitched the most for Clemson this season and boasts a 2.00 ERA. While Spencer often relies on her defense to get outs behind her, Cagle and Millie Thompson are two pitchers who rely more on strikeouts. They have ERAs of 2.50 and 1.77, respectively.

Virginia is entering postseason play with back-to-back 30 win seasons. While Joanna Hardin has steadily improved her team in eight seasons at Virginia, that has yet to translate to postseason play. The Hoos have lost in the ACC quarterfinals each of the last two years, to No. 3 Florida State in 2022 and Syracuse in 2023. The Cavaliers qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2022 and managed one win, but the UVA softball postseason history is limited.

In fact, the only time UVA has made the NCAA tournament was in 2010. After receiving one vote in the top 25 poll this week, there is a good chance Virginia will hear its name called in the 64 team field on Selection Sunday to break the 14-year drought. However, there is work to be done before that point, and having a chance to win a conference championship is a significant opportunity to seize.

The Cavaliers will face the Clemson Tigers on Thursday at 1:30 pm (ACCN) in the ACC quarterfinals in Durham for a chance to advance to the ACC semifinals (Friday at 1pm) against the winner of Duke and Boston College/Syracuse.

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Virginia

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

Published

1 hour ago

April 10, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia embraces the data center boom

A new West Virginia law aims to boost the state’s coal and natural gas sectors while more than tripling its electricity generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.

The measure, signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, is designed to turn West Virginia into an energy hub for the data center industry. By sending more electricity to the regional grid and leveraging his state’s relatively lax regulations, Morrisey and his allies are looking to lure data centers to the state, as well as power those beyond its borders.

“We know there’s virtually unlimited need for energy in our country,” Morrisey said at a bill signing of H.B. 5381. “PJM and our grid operators, they’re starving for states to step up and take the lead. And that’s what West Virginia is doing.”

The new law calls for the state’s Office of Energy to produce rolling five-year plans to keep the state’s existing coal-fired power plants operating through 2050, while also developing new “baseload” energy powered by gas, nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen.

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Virginia

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

Published

13 hours ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Birdball Prepares to Host Virginia Tech – Boston College Athletics

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — No. 23 Boston College Baseball will host Virginia Tech in a three-game series from April 10-12. On Friday and Sunday, the two teams will compete at Harrington Athletics Village with first pitch at 3:00 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, and both games will be streamed on ACCNX. On Saturday, the game will be played at Fenway Park for the 14th annual ALS Awareness Game. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and broadcast on ACC Network.

The 2026 ALS Awareness Game

The 14th annual Boston College ALS Awareness Game is coming to Fenway Park on Saturday, April 11, at 2 p.m., when the Eagles will face Virginia Tech in the second of a three-game series. The game has been played annually in honor of former BC baseball captain Pete Frates since his ALS diagnosis in 2012. This year marks the seventh time it has been played at Fenway Park. Frates passed away in 2019 at the age of 34.

Record vs Virginia Tech

Boston College is 26-35 all-time against Virginia Tech, including a 14-13 record at home. The Eagles were swept when the two teams last met in 2024. Six current players saw action in that series, with Nick Wang, Kyle Wolff, and Owen DeShazo seeing at-bats. Wolff was a combined 4-11 with five RBI, a home run, two doubles, and a triple in the series. Kyle Kipp, A.J. Colarusso, and Tyler Mudd all pitched, with Colarusso starting and going six innings with six strikeouts.

Scouting the Hokies

Virginia Tech is 15-16 this season and 6-9 in conference so far. The Hokies dropped their lone midweek contest, 11-4, to Liberty and lost two of three over the weekend to Miami. They won the finale against the Hurricanes, 6-3. Virginia Tech is hitting .256 as a team this season, but has three hitters above .300, led by Ethan Ball at .310. Ball leads the Hokies in hits and home runs with 35 and six, respectively. Hudson Lutterman is the team RBI leader with 23. The Virginia Tech pitching staff has four arms with over 20 innings, including Griffin Stieg, who has thrown 37 innings with 33 strikeouts. Brett Renfrow is the Hokies’ strikeout leader with 49 so far this season. The staff has an ERA of 7.68, but two arms with sub-5.00 ERAs: Luke Craytor and Chase Swift, with 3.77 and 4.24 ERAs, respectively.

The Matchups

The first game of the series will feature A.J. Colarusso against Logan Eisenreich. Colarusso is 3-1 on the year with a 2.88 ERA in 40.2 innings of work to go with 37 strikeouts. In his last outing, Colarusso went six innings against No. 6 North Carolina, allowing just one unearned run while matching his season high of seven strikeouts. Eisenreich is 0-1 this season with a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings of work to go with 18 strikeouts. His last appearance was three innings in relief against Miami, where he allowed an earned run while striking out two.

On Saturday, Brady Miller and Brett Renfrow will face off. Miller has yet to earn a decision this season in 27 innings of work. He has posted a 2.33 ERA to go with 27 strikeouts. His last outing saw him throw five innings against No. 6 North Carolina, where he gave up five earned runs with two strikeouts. Renfrow is 1-4 this season in 34.1 innings with 49 strikeouts and a 6.82 ERA. His last start came against Miami, where he allowed seven earned runs in five innings of work while striking out six.

Sunday’s starters are still to be determined.

Last Time Out

Boston College won both of its midweek contests, defeating UMass 11-1 in the Beanpot semifinals before beating Dartmouth 13-3. Against the Minutemen, Cesar Gonzalez, Luke Gallo, and Carter Hendrickson all had two RBI, while four guys had two hits each. On Wednesday, Wang paced the offense with three RBI. Julio Solier, Ty Mainolfi, and Jack Toomey all had three hits in the win. Jacob Burnham earned the win against UMass, while Peter Schaefer won against Dartmouth.

Up Next

The Eagles will host two midweeks next week, beginning on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with the championship game against Northeastern, followed by UConn at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. They will then host Duke for an ACC series.

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Virginia

Randolph-Macon College offers free stargazing through one of Virginia’s largest telescopes

Published

1 day ago

April 9, 2026

Press Room

Randolph-Macon College offers free stargazing through one of Virginia’s largest telescopes

ASHLAND, Va. — Eighth-grade students from Richmond Public Schools are getting a hands-on look at the stars at the Keeble Observatory at Randolph-Macon College.

The observatory, located on the campus in Ashland, is a research, outreach, and teaching telescope for the college’s Department of Physics, Engineering, and Astrophysics.

WTVR

It is the largest telescope of its kind between Washington, D.C., and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Earth Science teacher Chloe Tremper brought her class from Boushall Middle School to the observatory to learn about celestial objects.

“I think more people should know about it, especially when they have public nights on Thursdays. I’ll definitely be coming back with some folks,” Tremper said.

Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson helped guide the middle schoolers during their visit.

“It never gets old. It’s beautiful looking at it every time. And then seeing others see how beautiful it is, and their reactions, it’s amazing,” Baughman said.

“We usually have something already up. Something cool, shocking. Typically, a planet. We can look at Saturn. That’s a really popular one. I personally think Saturn’s my favorite,” Wilson said.

Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson.jpg — Randolph-Macon engineering and astrophysics students Brielle Baughman and Kamaya Wilson

The telescope and lab provide hands-on learning for students of all ages.

The campus hosts weekly public stargazing sessions on Thursdays during the academic semester, weather permitting.

Visitors can even play a form of cosmic bingo, marking off cards with everything they see.

Physics professor Michael Rodruck knows not all the middle school students will become astrophysicists, but he hopes they all find an interest in discovering new things.

“I hope they just get amazed by the night sky. Usually when kids look through that telescope, it’s always ‘Wow, that’s so cool!’ And seeing that spark of curiosity. Seeing that spark of interest, that really is making it worth it,” Rodruck said.

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