The Virginia softball team (20-17) hosts James Madison (16-17) today for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. at the Park.
After taking one game from a doubleheader and playing closely in the loss against a skilled Florida State team last weekend, the Cavaliers are quite optimistic.
But, after losing one of two games to Liberty last week and only collecting one hit in their victory over FSU, the Cavaliers are anything but over-confident.
"I'm not sure what to expect from JMU, but we're not in the position to take anyone lightly," junior Amy McKean said.
The Dukes, part of the Colonial Athletic Association, lost two games to Liberty earlier this season. Outside of those games, James Madison has not played a game against a team that Virginia has also played. Earlier in the season, the Dukes did take two games from Maryland, who the Cavaliers are slated to play this weekend.
"[JMU has] very good pitching, solid defense, and they have come up," coach Karen Johns said. "They have produced some big hits and won some big games because of it."
In order to quell the big hits, Johns hopes to get pitching on track against James Madison. Against Florida State last weekend, Virginia pitching sparkled in the opener -- two pitchers combined to shut out the Seminoles -- but the staff fell apart in the latter game, allowing eight runs on 13 hits.
"The pitching has to stay consistent," Johns said. "We keep giving up walks and small hits, and they turn into big hits."
In the second game of the doubleheader, Florida State scored five of their eight runs in one inning. The five runs came on three home runs.
"I think we're doing a lot of things well," Johns said. "We're not getting a lot of depth in pitching. We're getting some good spots here and there, and that was really the only difference between the first game and the second game."
While some teams in the ACC work primarily around one pitcher, Virginia operates out of a committee. Senior Erin Horn, junior Coty Tolar, sophomore Karla Wilburn and freshman Madi Gore make up the staff for the Cavaliers. Horn leads the staff with an 8-7 record and a 2.03 ERA. However, she has been unable to distinguish herself as they key pitcher in the Virginia lineup.
"[Pitching by committee] is the only way we can go," Johns said. "We're not making adjustments throughout the whole game. We have to make changes when [the pitches] start flattening out or they start hitting the ball harder on us."
With the way the offense has improved this season, there is no reason to believe that the pitching cannot improve either. One example of the impact that Johns has had in her first year has been the development of sophomore Whitney Holstun.
Her batting average is up to .286 and she is third on the team with 15 RBI. Last year, Holstun hit just .242. She credits the coaching staff with her improvement this season.
"I definitely made one big change," Holstun said. "What I do with my feet. Coach [Johns] has been working me and took the stride out of my swing. It was very helpful."
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