Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech women's softball team was able to advance past the regionals for the first time in school history this past weekend and will now go on to play the University of Michigan (51-6) in the super regionals in Ann Arbor.

"It means much more ESPN type coverage, it does a lot for recruiting and exposure for the university in terms of the athletic aspect" said head coach Scot Thomas. "I think we all kind of came together and as far as leadership goes, we all take a part in it."

Angela Tincher also made it known that it is nice to be part of a growing program, and it drives the players to perform at their best all the time. Said Tincher, "We have a lot of energy, and it's kind of like a growing program, so we have a lot of motivation to make it better and prove ourselves."

The Hokies played Louisville (30-22) in the first game of the tournament and won behind the strong pitching of the All-American Angela Tincher. Tincher would pitch all ten innings, strike out 19 batters, and only give up one hit. This was one of the more dramatic games of the weekend. In the bottom of the tenth inning, Misty Hall stepped up to the plate and hit a solo shot over the fence giving the Hokies the 1-0 victory and a spot in the regional semifinals against Tennessee.

After defeating Louisville in the first round of the regionals, the Hokies moved on to play Tennessee (48-15). Once again, Tincher came through with a strong performance, blanketing the Tennessee offense and allowing no runs. The fourth inning was very kind to the Hokies as it was where they scored all of their runs. Left fielder Caroline Stolle hit a grand slam giving Virginia Tech their only four runs of the game. Tech's defense and pitching would lead them to a 4-0 victory over Tennessee in the first game.

The Hokies would be forced to play Tennessee two more times because the semifinals are double elimination. In their second game against Tennessee, Angela Tincher would get off to a rough start and would only pitch one and a third innings. Tennessee would go on to win the second game of the series 7-1 to force a deciding game three.

In the third game of the series, Tech would go on to win by a score of 4-2. Tincher was back to her usual form striking out eleven batters and only giving up two runs on four hits. This victory gave the Hokies something to really be proud of. It also pushed the Hokies into the super regional for the first time in school history giving the victory added significance.

Michigan figures to be a tough test for Virginia Tech. Michigan bats .305 as a team and has 54 homeruns on the year. In contrast, their opponents have had only 12 homeruns on the year and have a team average of .166. Michigan has also managed to bring in 290 runs while their opponents have only managed to muster up 60 runs. Samantha Findlary leads the way for Michigan with a .401 batting average, a .529 on-base percentage, 69 RBIs and 21 homeruns on the year.

"We are going to try to watch the video of them and I know they have an affinity for hitting homeruns but they don't have quite the team speed that we do" said coach Thomas. Keeping Michigan's powerful hitters at bay figures to be key to the Hokies chances of winning meaning that much of that burden will most likely fall on the shoulders of ACC Pitcher of the Year Angela Tincher.

When Tech heads up to Ann Arbor, they will look to rally behind their All-American pitcher. "Angela has been a great leader for us. If she isn't quite where she needs to be, it affects all of us. We kind of feed off of what she is doing in the circle" said coach Thomas.

Tincher herself knows the magnitude of the team's upcoming challenges. "Every game is really important," said Tincher, knowing that now, any game could be her last.

The Hokies will need that kind of positive energy when they head to Ann Arbor to face Michigan on Saturday, May 24. at noon for the first game of a best of three series.