George Washington University
St. John's
Softball Begins Cavalier Clash with Two Games on Friday
2/23/2023 10:40:00 AM | Softball
Buff and Blue to play five games over the weekend at UVA
WASHINGTON - GW softball is heading to Charlottesville, Va. this weekend for five games at the Cavalier Clash. Hosted by UVA, the Buff and Blue will open the weekend with games on Friday against St. John's (10 a.m.) and Longwood (12:30 pm), then play one game on Saturday against UMES (5:30 pm) before finishing on Sunday with games against Howard (1:30 p.m.) and Virginia (4 p.m.). GW's game against Virginia can be streamed on ACCNX, while the rest of the games can be tracked live using the live stats links on the online schedule.Â
Last Time Out:Â
GW went 2-2 last weekend playing at the Carolina Classic. GW started with a 4-2 win over ETSU on Friday, then fell to South Carolina and WKU on Saturday before rebounding well with a 3-0 shutout win over Delaware on Sunday.Â
Rose's Rise:Â
First-year Rose Cano has been impressive early in her career. The Long Beach, Calif. product has raced to an A-10 best four wins, which includes two complete games. Cano has recorded 19 strikeouts in 25.1 innings and has only allowed five earned runs.Â
The rookie is getting it done at the plate too. Cano is batting .300 with one RBI and two runs scored.Â
Ritchie's Return:
Graduate student Arizona Ritchie will make her return to UVA, where she played for four years prior to coming to GW, and is doing so in the midst of an outstanding start to the year. Ritchie, who has been in GW's lead-off spot, has a team-high 10 hits, .417 batting average and .462 on-base percentage.Â
Scouting the Competition:
St. John's:Â
The Red Storm are off to a 1-8 start to the season having faced quality competition thus far. St. John's has played No. 21 Auburn, No. 20 Kentucky, No. 19 Stanford, No. 13 Georgia and No. 8 Northwestern, all of which resulted in losses. Its lone victory was an 8-0 win against Southern.
Katie Whittaker leads St. John's efforts at the plate this year with a .385 batting average and two home runs, while Carolina Zamudio has been St. John's top pitcher with a 3.68 ERA.Â
Longwood:
Longwood has started the year 4-5, which includes a 1-2 record against ranked squads. The Lancers split games with No.4 Florida State but lost to No. 1 Oklahoma.
Jaden Pone provides an effective bat for Longwood and was just named Big South Player of the Week. Pone sports a .516 batting average and a 1.079 OPS. Maggie Chapin leads the Lancers in pitching this year, with a 2.92 ERA over 26.1 innings pitched.Â
UMES:
UMES has started the year 1-3 after playing for the first time last weekend at USC Upstate. The Shore Hawks beat South Carolina State, but lost to George Mason, Holy Cross and USC Upstate.
Jaycee Holt has a team-high seven hits after one weekend of action, and Katelyn Smitchko leads the Shore Hawks' pitching with a 1-1 record.Â
Howard:
Howard is 2-2 to kick off its 2023 campaign. Playing its first games this year at the NFCA D1 Leadoff Classic, the Bison lost games to No. 13/12 Tennessee and NR/RV Louisville, but picked up wins against Prairie View A&M and Southern.
Jordan Maryn was 5-11 with four RBIs in her first weekend, while Sidney Fletcher was 4-8 with one RBI. Mia Gonzales is 1-1 over 11.2 innings and has a 4.80 ERA.
Virginia:
UVA is 6-4 after a busy start to the year. The Cavaliers are 1-4 against Power Five opponents, which includes two losses to No. 23 Maryland, a loss to Nebraska and a 1-1 record against Minnesota.
M.C. Eaton has provided a burst of power for Virginia - she has four home runs and 10 RBIs. Eden Bigham leads the Cavaliers with 24.1 innings pitched and a .086 ERA.
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