Courtesy UVA Media Relations
The No. 23 Virginia softball team ended its run at the 2026 Allstate ACC Championship in the quarterfinals on Thursday, falling to No. 13 Virginia Tech by a score of 3-1 at Palmer Park.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia Tech (45-9) struck first, capitalizing on an error in the third inning to plate a run. Addison Foster tripled down the first base line and then came home when the throw to third sailed high and off the mark.
The Hokies added two more runs in the fourth as doubles from Zoe Yaeger and Annika Rohs took the lead out to 3-0.
Virginia (38-13) mounted a rally in the seventh, loading the bases with one out. A fielder’s choice kept the bases loaded as the Hokies got the second out of the inning at home. Bella Cabral then drew a walk to get the Hoos on the board. Virginia Tech ended the rally with a strikeout to take the victory.
Taylor Smith (6-2) took the loss for the Cavaliers, allowing two runs – one of them earned – on two hits with three walks. She worked 3.1 innings in the start.
Emma Mazzarone (16-4) picked up the win, allowing the one run on four hits with five walks and 14 strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- It was the second straight season for Virginia to advance to the quarterfinal round of the ACC Championship.
FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“Tip of the hat to Emma Mazzarone; she threw it very well. You have to feel the pain of these losses. To level up and punch through you have to do something different at some point. We have to find ways to continue to chisel away to get past this round and into the championship round. That’s the goal whether it’s in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. There’s a lot of tears, a lot of disappointment and women who have finished playing here at Palmer Park. This place is really special. You feel it with them. When you watch someone else celebrate on your own field, it hits deeper and differently. It’s important to feel that and that it challenges us to change something. A lot of these young women will have more opportunities in their career here. These opportunities are going to pay us back moving forward, but this one hurts. The crowd was incredible. It was such a great environment; it was a championship environment.”
UP NEXT
Virginia awaits the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field on Sunday. The NCAA selection show will be at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
2026 ALLSTATE ACC SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
(All Times Eastern)
Wednesday
Game 1: No. 9 Georgia Tech 13, No. 8 Notre Dame 3 (5 innings)
Game 2: No. 5 Louisville 6, No. 12 NC State 5
Game 3: No. 10 North Carolina 4, No. 7 Clemson 2
Game 4: No. 6 Virginia 2, No. 11 Pitt 1
Thursday
Game 5: No. 1 Florida State 2, No. 9 Georgia Tech 1
Game 6: No. 4 Stanford 6, No. 5 Louisville 5 (8 innings)
Game 7: No. 2 Duke 16, No. 10 North Carolina 8 (6 innings)
Game 8: No. 3 Virginia Tech 3, No. 6 Virginia 1
Friday
Game 9: No. 1 Florida State vs. No. 4 Stanford, 1 p.m. (ACCN)
Game 10: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m. (ACCN)
Saturday
Championship: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
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