The Virginia softball team will return to The Park today after a rain-soaked week that wreaked havoc on the Cavaliers' schedule. Virginia (26-19, 1-3 ACC) will look to regroup in this afternoon's doubleheader against Liberty (26-13,4-2 Big South Conference) after dropping two games to North Carolina on Sunday.
The Tarheels topped the Cavaliers 10-2 in the first game, with freshman Christina Grimm taking the loss in the circle despite a two-run homerun in the top of the fourth inning. North Carolina was triumphant again in the nightcap, earning a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the 10th after capitalizing on an error and a wild pitch by Virginia to score the tying and winning runs on the same play.
"They didn't hit to win," coach Cheryl Sprangel said. "We gave them runs on passed balls. It wasn't the best played game, but we were kind of fighting them on the same level."
Virginia was scheduled to play the Chapel Hill doubleheader on Saturday, then travel to Elon for another twin bill Sunday, but when rain forced the postponement of the North Carolina contests, both games at Elon were cancelled. The games will not be rescheduled.
"I feel like the rain really hurt us last week," Sprangel said. "Even though we had practice all week, we didn't play and that gets you rusty."
Last Wednesday's scheduled doubleheader at Virginia Tech also was rained out. Those games will be made up Thursday afternoon in Blacksburg.
Before travelling to Virginia Tech, however, the Cavaliers will face another in-state rival in Liberty. The Flames, like Virginia, are coming off two consecutive defeats this weekend after dropping both games of a BSC doubleheader to Costal Carolina. Liberty fell 2-1 in the first game and 7-4 in the second, with both contests stretching into eight innings.
Despite this weekend's losses, the Cavaliers expressed confidence and faith in their team mechanics.
"We just have to keep doing what we've been doing," senior third baseman Ruby Rojas said. "It's just hitting and playing good defense."
Virginia's coaching staff also said they felt that the team has the tools needed for victory tomorrow.
"I know we'll bounce back tomorrow," Sprangel said. "If we come out and play our game, we can definitely handle Liberty."
The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 3 p.m.
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