On the back of Virginia Tech's fourth 40-win season in the past five years, the Hokies garnered their third straight three-seed placement in the ACC Tournament.

While Tech won back-to-back tournaments in 2007-08, current head coach Pete D’Amour has yet to capture the ACC hardware, and it all starts this year with the only in-state conference foe, the Virginia Cavaliers.

— Virginia Tech Softball (@HokiesSoftball) May 7, 2026

With the format being single-elimination, a lot can happen within the seven innings on the diamond, with the brunt of the game's impact coming from the circle on both sides.

Tech (44-9, 18-6 ACC) and the Cavaliers' (38-12, 13-10) series-opening matchup did just that, with a low-scoring barnburner in which Virginia took a 4-3 victory.

In that contest, southpaw arm Emma Mazzarone tossed all six innings of work against Virginia.…