The No. 5 seed Virginia Tech women's softball team (8-10, 27-27) will clash with the fifth seeded Maryland Terrapins (9-11, 29-25) in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Raleigh, N.C.
Head coach Scot Thomas said, "Maryland is a very balanced squad. They can run a little bit, and they've got some power. They are a consistent group at the plate, and they have a solid team as a whole."
In their previous regular season meeting during the weekend of April 25, the Terps came to Blacksburg and took two of three games. The games were tight, however, and the entire series was decided by a difference of only five total runs.
"Our series kind of proves that we're two fairly evenly matched teams ... although we've had wins of Georgia Tech and Florida State, which I don't think they've had," Thomas said. "We have to be able to continue to utilize our speed. We have to have a good, solid overall game, and we can't beat ourselves. It should be a good first round game for us."
Maryland lost their last two games of the season to Georgia Tech, with their final match up with the Jackets being rained out on Sunday. Prior to those losses, the Terps went on a five-game wining streak, with one of those wins coming at the hands of Virginia Tech. The Hokies will be looking to cut down on some mental mistakes that have recently cost them a few victories.
"I think the biggest thing is to make sure we're finishing plays," said Thomas. "It's just a matter of playing the game hard no matter who we're playing, and then continue to do what we're doing, but just do it at a higher level."
"This week, we're going to focus on tightening our game up and making sure that we bring the best game that we've got to the ACC Tournament," said sophomore pitcher Kenzie Roark. "The best thing that I can do is work ahead of the batter and get them to put the ball on the ground, so I'm going to work on getting command of all of my pitches and be confident with all of them."
The Hokie squad consists of six seniors: Erin Ota, Charisse Mariconda, Kim Jalm, Jessica Everhart, Beth Walker and Jenna Rhodes.
"They brought us a good series the last time we played them," said Rhodes, the team's centerfielder. "We know what we need to do. We need to step up every aspect of our game to get the job done."
"I think they know what's at stake," Thomas said. "It's just a matter of taking pride in their game. ... We'll chat about that a little before (the game)."
Tech will be working in practice this week to ensure that everyone is playing at their highest level in order to give them the best possible chance in the single elimination format of the ACC Softball Championship.
"I think we have people starting to do what they need to do individually," Rhodes said. "We need to continue to work hard and believe in our own abilities that we've been given."
With the single elimination format and because the first round plays like the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Hokies know that this is their big chance to show the rest of the league that they won't go down without a fight.
"It's three games to win the ACC Tournament, and that's not impossible for us to do. ... I think we're all excited to see what happens," said Roark.
The Hokies ended the regular season by winning eight of their last 12 games. Knowing that just one more loss calls for the end of their season, they are determined to keep their season alive as long as they possibly can.
"I think definitely I'll go out there a little more amped up," said Roark. "It's the ACC Tournament and the postseason. Everyone steps up their game in the postseason and brings their A-game no matter what. I'm just going to go out there and pitch my heart out for our seniors because I'm really close with a lot of them and I don't want our season to end."
The winner will advance to the semifinals, which take place on Saturday, May 9 at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The championship game will be played on Sunday at 1 p.m.