The bracket and seeding for the ACC Championship was revealed Saturday, and Virginia softball earned the seventh seed, a three-spot drop from their position last season. Play will begin Wednesday in Brighton, Mass., with Virginia’s first game coming against No. 10 Louisville at 5 p.m.
A matchup against the Cardinals (26-24, 9-15 ACC) could prove to be an advantageous one for the Cavaliers (36-16, 14-10 ACC), as they recently faced off in a series at Palmer Park just last month. Virginia defeated its visitor handedly, outscoring them 19-8 in three games en route to a 2-1 series win.
That series was the beginning of a strong finish to the regular season for the Cavaliers, who went 3-2 in their last five games — they scored 15 more runs than their opponents in those games. Virginia ended its series with a good effort in a 2-0 series loss to No. 5 Stanford.
The Cavaliers sit in the middle of the pack in the ACC for many offensive categories — including eighth in batting average, hits, RBIs and OBP — but they also rank closer to the top in home runs, sixth, and slugging percentage, fifth. Meanwhile, their pitching staff ranks third in ERA, second in saves and fourth for strikeouts, and it has the second-lowest batting average in the conference.
Leading the staff is junior pitcher Eden Bigham, who has recorded 117 strikeouts and an impressive 2.08 ERA in regular season play. Bigham performed well in her recent battle against the Louisville lineup. She allowed two runs in the first game of the April series on very short rest — still, she pitched 11 shutout innings and only allowed three hits across the final two games of the series, which bodes well for a first-round matchup with the Cardinals.
Bigham started in the last regular season game against Liberty, but she will get a week’s worth of rest. Leading with the ace has been a common approach by Coach Joanna Hardin. Junior pitcher Courtney Layne is another potential option, but look for Bigham to start Wednesday.
Bigham and company compare favorably to the Louisville rotation, which has allowed the most hits in the conference and holds the ACC’s fourth-highest ERA. Three out of Virginia’s five active pitchers this regular season have an ERA under 3.00, while not one of Louisville’s seven is below that mark — only two Cardinals have an ERA below 4.00.
Louisville’s junior pitcher Alyssa Zabala — who will likely get the start against the Cavaliers — has pitched 133.2 innings, the most of any Cardinal by a wide margin, and carries a 4.14 ERA with 83 strikeouts. She has allowed a .312 batting average, the third highest in the ACC. Last time she faced Virginia’s lineup, she gave up seven runs across 12.2 innings pitched over three games, striking out four and walking three.
If Virginia gets past Louisville, they will face No. 2 Clemson Thursday at 5 p.m. The two teams have not played each other this season — the last time they faced off was a brutal 8-1 loss for the Cavaliers in the first round of the 2024 ACC Championships. The Tigers (41-12, 19-5 ACC) were the fifth seed that year, underdogs to the fourth-seeded Cavaliers. This year, a potential rematch in the quarterfinals would have Clemson as the favorite, coming off of a first-round bye.
Virginia has a 4-7 record on the road against ESPN top 25-ranked opponents this season, but four of those seven losses came from long-distance trips to Tallahassee, Fla. to face then-No. 8 Florida State and to Palo Alto, Calif. to face then-No.15 Stanford. The difference between those trips and this one, for Virginia, is that no team will have home field advantage in the ACC Tournament.
Should Virginia advance past Clemson to semifinals, it will face the winner of No. 3 Virginia Tech and either No. 6 North Carolina or No. 11 Notre Dame Friday at 3:30 p.m. It is unlikely that either of the latter two defeats the Hokies (39-10, 17-6), who have cruised through the ACC. The Cavaliers faced them in a road series earlier this season — they lost two out of three games but were only outscored 14-16.
If the Cavaliers reach the championship game for the first time since 2010, they would likely face No. 1 Florida State or No. 4 Duke. They have not faced the latter, but they did face the Seminoles in a road series — Virginia picked up an impressive win in the first game but dropped the final two, losing the final game by nine runs.
Every round of the tournament will be carried by ACC Network, save for the championship, which will be on ESPN Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
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