UNCG hosts Virginia Tech in midweek nonconference doubleheader

Tatiana Alcala (Photo by Dano Keeney)

Game 1
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Virginia Tech (16-10)	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	5	1
UNCG (8-15)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
@ Greensboro, N.C. | UNCG Softball Field

Pitching
Win: Jasmin Harrell (10-6) - Virginia Tech
Loss: Cory Mattson (5-8) - UNCG

Virginia Tech Batting
2B: Bkaye Smith
3B: none
HR: Lauren Gaskill

UNCG Batting
2B: Ashley Reetz
3B: Eileen Horsmon
HR: none

full stats

Game 2
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Virginia Tech (17-10)	2	1	1	0	1	0	3	8	9	4
UNCG (8-16)	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	3	3
@ Greensboro, N.C. | UNCG Softball Field

Pitching
Win: Bailey Liddle (5-3) - Virginia Tech
Loss: Erica Navarette (2-6) - UNCG

Virginia Tech Batting
2B: Kelsey Mericka; Bkaye Smith
3B: none
HR: Lauren Gaskill

UNCG Batting
2B: none
3B: none
HR: Eileen Horsmon

full stats

UNCG (8-14) vs. Virginia Tech (15-10), March 14, 4 p.m. DH, UNCG Softball Stadium

LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com

Storylines

• UNCG steps back out of league play to host a doubleheader with Virginia Tech on Wednesday at the UNCG Softball Stadium. Game one starts at 4 p.m.

• The Spartans opened Southern Conference play with a series win at Appalachian State over the weekend, taking two of three after dropping the opener on Saturday. ASU won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 8-0 in six innings, but UNCG rebounded with a 9-4 win in game two. The Spartans took a 7-2 win Sunday in the rubber game.

• Alex Emeterio and Heather Robb each hit .400 on the weekend, with Robb hitting a grand slam Saturday and a three-run homer Sunday. Freshman Tatiana Alcala hit .333 on the weekend with her first career homer, while Katelyn Bedwell continued her recent power surge with her sixth homer of the season.

• After slumping to an .095 average through her first eight games, Bedwell is hitting a team-best .386 in the 14 games since then, with six homers and 18 RBI, also team bests over that span. UNCG is 7-7 since then after opening 1-7 as Bedwell has hit safely in 12 of the 14 games.

• Overall on the season, Emeterio leads the team with a .360 average and a .448 on-base percentage and has struck out just twice in 58 plate appearances. Eileen Horsmon is hitting .309 with 18 RBI and has hit five home runs. She also leads the team with six doubles and a .647 slugging percentage. Bedwell is hitting .292 and leads the team in homers (six) and a career-high 22 RBI.

• Senior pitcher Cory Mattson leads UNCG with a 4.02 ERA and is 5-7 on the season. Freshman Erica Navarette owns a 4.52 ERA and is 2-5 on the year. Sophomore Josie Felix is 1-2 with an 8.30 ERA.

• Emeterio, a senior, is in the top 10 in school history in career batting average, hits, doubles, triples, RBI, slugging percentage and walks.

• With 335 career strikeouts to her credit, Mattson moved into eighth place in school history over the weekend, passing Amber Watson, who has 332 from 2000-03.

• The Spartans are 3-1 at home on the young season, their best four-game home start since opening the 2007 campaign with the same mark. Wednesday's doubleheader kicks off a season-high seven-game homestand for the Spartans.

• UNCG is 6-17 against Virginia Tech all-time, with the first two wins coming when the Hokies were still a club team in 1990. The Spartans have lost six straight to Virginia Tech, including a pair this season in Jacksonville, Fla., at the Wingate by Wyndham Opening Weekend Tournament. Virginia Tech took wins of 10-1 and 12-3 on Feb. 10 and 12, respectively. UNCG's last win over the Hokies came on April 30, 2009, when the teams split a doubleheader in Greensboro.

• The teams have played at least once in seven of the last eight seasons, skipping only 2007.

• After opening the season 7-0, Virginia Tech has gone 8-10 since then and stands 15-10 on the year.

• The Hokies went 2-3 last weekend at the USF Under Armour Showcase in Tampa and Clearwater, Fla. Virginia Tech beat Toledo and Miami University and lost to Penn State, South Florida and Syracuse.

• Courtney Liddle leads Virginia Tech with a .343 average, three home runs, a .522 slugging percentage and a .476 on-base percentage. Dani Anderson is second on the squad with a .315 average and six doubles, while Kelsey Mericka and Kristen Froehlich share the team lead with 16 RBI.

• In the circle, Jasmin Harrell is a team-best 9-6 with a 1.80 ERA. Bailey Liddle is 4-3 with a 2.05 mark and Isabella Corrao is 2-1 with a 6.18 ERA.

• In the Hokies' two games against UNCG this season, Courtney Liddle was a combined 5-for-5 with a homer and five RBI, while Anderson hit .800 (4-for-5) with six runs scored. Froelich was 4-for-6 (.667) with a homer and five RBI. Bailey Liddle and Harrell picked up the wins in the circle.

- UNCG -