The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Virginia takes on ACC rival Louisville in Charlottesville

Homestand excites Cavaliers, which played 23-straight road games

The Virginia softball team will be in Charlottesville this weekend to take on conference rival Louisville in a three-game series. The Cavaliers (8-18, 0-3 ACC) are in the midst of a rough patch right now, having lost nine of their last 11 games.

The team is looking to bounce back against the Cardinals (16-6, 2-1 ACC), and gain some momentum as they continue their home stand. Coach Blake Miller knows the team must improve, starting with its defense.

“Big thing we got to do is, we just got to step up and play some defense,” he said.

Miller stressed that improved play on the defense side of the field will help Virginia break out of its slump on offense.

“The rough patch is there because we’re not hitting the ball like we should,” he said. “But really it’ll take the pressure off our hitters so we have to step up and play some better defense. Our pitchers are throwing the ball well and so we just need to make a few key plays and everything moves real fast.”

The Cardinals have gotten off to a strong start this season, meaning the Cavaliers must be extra focused and ready to play. According to Miller, the team needs to get more disciplined in order to become more successful. He cites undisciplined play for their struggles during the three-game sweep at the hands of Notre Dame last weekend.

“[The] biggest thing we’re focusing on is just being strong, I mean get into our discipline,” Miller said. “We’ve been very undisciplined about what we do and really it showed the complete difference between us and Notre Dame was that they were very disciplined in what they did and we were not.”

After starting off the season playing 23-straight road games, the Cavaliers are happy to finally be getting the opportunity to play at home. In Charlottesville, the team gets the chance to play the game at a more relaxed and comfortable level. Hopefully, the Cavaliers’ second weekend back at The Park will bode well for them.

Miller stressed some of the benefits of playing at home.

“You can sleep in your own bed, you relax a little bit more and you go down and just get through your everyday life instead of being stuck in a hotel and eating at restaurants all the time,” Miller said. “It’s a lot nicer being able to eat a home-cooked meal and stay up, sleep in your own bed.”

Though the Cavaliers have struggled lately, they are hoping to turn things around this weekend. There is still plenty of softball left to be played this season, and Virginia has the chance to pick up some momentum with a couple quality wins.

The Cavaliers will take on Louisville this Friday at 4:00 p.m. and then finish off the series with a doubleheader Saturday with games at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Comments

Latest Podcast

The University’s Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admission, Greg Roberts, provides listeners with an insight into how the University conducts admissions and the legal subtleties regarding the possible end to the consideration of legacy status.



https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt