After a successful regular season, Virginia received its second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid for the first time in program history — a trip to Columbia, S.C. to take on North Florida, Elon and the host program, No. 8-seed South Carolina, in the NCAA Regionals. The Cavaliers (37-17, 14-10 ACC) got a much better draw this season than they did in 2024, when they fell at the hands of No. 2-seed Tennessee in the Regional round.
The NCAA Regionals features 16 regions of four teams each. The highest-ranked team in each region acts as the host of a double-elimination tournament. The host, in this case South Carolina (40-15, 13-11 SEC), starts off against the lowest-ranked team, in this case Elon (33-19, 21-6 CAA).
Virginia, as the second seed within the region, has their first matchup Friday against North Florida (45-13, 22-2 ASUN), who ranks 44th in RPI — 17 spots below the Cavaliers, who are ranked 27th.
Junior pitcher Eden Bigham will likely get the start for the Cavaliers. She has had a fantastic season, allowing the 17th-lowest batting average and recording the fourth-most saves in the country with seven. She is coming off a tough game in the ACC quarterfinals, however — Bigham let up seven runs and only struck out two en route to Virginia’s elimination from the conference tournament.
Should Coach Joanna Hardin feel so inclined, Virginia could start junior pitcher Courtney Layne, who has only given up two total runs across her last 15 innings in the circle. The Cavaliers will have to play at least two games in the worst-case scenario for the Regional, so Bigham and Layne will likely both spend plenty of time in the circle.
The Atlantic Sun conference champions are led by senior two-way player Allison Benning. At the plate, Benning is tied for 19th in the nation with 19 homers and has the ninth-highest OPS at 1.502. In the circle, she may be even more impressive, with the ninth best ERA and seventh most wins in the country.
The Ospreys will likely lead with Benning as their starter, as she has pitched nearly double the innings of her next closest teammate, but expect junior pitcher Kylah Berry to see significant action. Berry sports a stellar 1.02 ERA, good for fourth in the country, and is tied for the seventh-most saves. Overall, North Florida presents quite a challenge for Virginia batters — their pitching room collectively has the 12th-best ERA in the nation.
There is not much to fear at the plate. While they are 41st for batting average, North Florida barely scratches the top 100 for slugging percentage. The Ospreys do not hit for power frequently, making their offense competent but not intimidating for a strong Cavalier pitching staff — the Virginia pitchers have the 35th-best ERA and the 20th lowest batting average allowed in the country.
If Virginia manages to defeat North Florida, their second game will come against the winner of South Carolina and Elon. The Gamecocks, as the hosts and the eighth-highest RPI-ranked team in the country, are favored to defeat the Phoenix. On the other hand, if Virginia loses to North Florida, they would face the loser of the other matchup in an elimination game.
Elon’s player to watch is senior outfielder Kaitlyn Wells, who has registered a .417 batting average, a .785 slugging percentage and a 1.267 OPS. Wells is one of the best players in the Regional, and Virginia pitchers will likely have to pitch around her if the Cavaliers and Phoenix meet.
Statistics tell an interesting story about South Carolina, the host team and No. 8 seed overall. On offense, they are 48th in batting average, 62nd in slugging percentage, 45th in runs scored and 81st in hits — nothing particularly impressive. Their pitching statistics are not exactly incredible either — 65th in ERA, 69th in hits allowed, 45th in runs allowed and 47th in batting average allowed. Where they excel, however, is their strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is seventh-best in the country at 0.74 — essentially, despite offensive metrics that don’t jump off the page, South Carolina finds ways to get on base.
It showed in both of Virginia’s matchups with them earlier this year. In two one-run losses, one in extra innings, baserunners proved critical. Cumulatively, the Cavaliers allowed 11 walks and struck out just seven batters — a trend that has to reverse in the Columbia Regional if Virginia wants to fare better against the Gamecocks.
Those two games were the first of the season for both Virginia and South Carolina. If both teams get past North Florida and Elon, respectively, their final meeting of the season will be the last game the loser will play in 2025. The winner of the Regional will move on to play whoever emerges from the Los Angeles Regional, whether it be No. 9-seed UCLA, UCSB, Arizona State or San Diego State in Super Regionals.
Virginia begins Regional play Friday at 3 p.m. versus North Florida, with coverage available on ESPN+.
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