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BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech softball team (34-20, 9-14 ACC) will begin action in the 2015 ACC Softball Championship Thursday afternoon as the No. 7 seed, taking on second-seeded North Carolina (35-13, 16-5 ACC) at 5 p.m. at Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg. The game will be broadcast live on the ACC’s regional sports networks (see below) as well as online on ESPN3 outside of the ACC footprint (blacked out in ACC area).

Pre-sale tickets are available for $12 (online only). Tickets are $5 per day at the gate. Students and Youth (18 and under) are $3 and current students of ACC schools are free with a college I.D.

The Headlines
• Tech enters the ACC Softball Championship at 34-20 overall and finished seventh in the ACC after going 9-14.

• This will be Virginia Tech’s 11th ACC Softball Championship. In that span, the Hokies are 18-10 with two titles in four championship game appearances. Tech has also advanced to at least the semifinals of eight of the 10 ACC Tournaments it has played in since joining the league.

• The Hokies have recent history going against them as no host team has won the ACC Softball Championship since Florida State University did it in 2004 in Tallahassee.

• This will be the second time Virginia Tech has hosted the ACC Softball Championship at Tech Softball Park (2010).

• The Hokies dip at the end of the season has coincided with the loss of freshman Breanna Davenport, the leadoff batter who leads the team with a .345 batting average and starts in center field. Davenport suffered a high ankle sprain at Pitt on Sunday, April 20 and will be looking to return to the lineup this weekend. Tech also lost senior Lauren Gaskill for a doubleheader at No. 19 James Madison due to an illness, snapping her 230-game start streak. Now back, Gaskill - Tech’s shortstop - has been forced to move to center field in Davenport’s absence, moving Kylie McGoldrick over to shortstop from second base for the first time in her career and freshman Jessie Mehr from first base to second base for the first time in her young career.

• Kelsey Mericka has 16 home runs on the season after hitting her latest on May 3 at Boston College, tied for the school record of 16 set by Megan Evans in 2005.

• Senior Lauren Gaskill already holds the school record for career runs scored with 179.

• Sitting with an RPI of 38th, the Hokies are squarely on the NCAA bubble when it comes to an at-large bid. Of course, if Tech wins three games this weekend, it won’t be an issue as the Hokies will earn the automatic bid. The ACC is rated as the No. 4 power conference, with six teams in the adjusted top 45 of the RPI. The Hokies own one top-25 RPI win (James Madison) and four top-50 RPI wins (JMU, Louisville [3]).

About North Carolina
Record: 35-13, 16-5 ACC
NCAA Adjusted RPI: 34
Strength of Schedule: 61
Non-Conference Strength of Schedule: 52
Top-50 RPI Wins: Georgia, ND, NCST [2], VT [2], Louisville
Season Series: 2-0 (beat VT 6-1 and 9-5 in Chapel Hill)
• North Carolina enters postseason at 35-13, 16-5 in the ACC, seeded second in the tournament.

• The Tar Heels are a power-hitting team with a league-leading 87 home runs, led by Kristen Brown’s 22. Amber Parrish has 17 of her own while six others have six home runs or more. UNC bats .334 as a team, led by freshman Taylor Wike’s .451 clip. Seven regulars hit .310 or higher for the offense.

• In the circle, UNC relies on the freshman duo of Sydney Matzko (14-4, 2.21 ERA, 76 Ks, 104.2 IP) and Kaylee Carlson (16-8, 3.58 ERA, 106 Ks, 135.0 IP).

• North Carolina leads the overall series 24-14 after sweeping the Hokies earlier this season in Chapel Hill. UNC won the first game 6-1 before rallying from a 5-1 deficit to win the second game, 9-5.

• Tech is 3-0 all-time against the Tar Heels in ACC Softball Championship history, beating them in 2005, 2007 and 2012.

ACC Championship History
• This will be Tech’s 11th ACC Softball Championship. In that span, the Hokies are 18-10 with two titles in four championship game appearances. Tech has also advanced to at least the semifinals of eight of the 10 ACC Championships its played in since joining the league.

• Virginia Tech was 6-0 against Maryland, is 3-0 against North Carolina, 1-0 against Syracuse, 3-2 against both Florida State and Virginia, 1-2 against NC State, 1-3 against Georgia Tech and 0-1 against Notre Dame. The Hokies have never played Boston College in the ACC Softball Championship.

• Three of the four matchups against Georgia Tech have come in the finals, including 2012 in Chapel Hill.

• The Hokies have won two league titles, sweeping through four games at Tallahassee, Florida, in 2007 and then winning three games at College Park, Maryland, the following year en route to the Women’s College World Series.

• This will be the second time Virginia Tech has hosted the ACC Softball Championship at Tech Softball Park (2010).

All seven tournament games will be broadcast on either ESPN, ESPN3, or the league’s regional sports networks (RSN). All four of Thursday’s first round games will be carried by both RSN and ESPN3. Friday’s semifinals will be on RSN and ESPN3 at 1 and 3:30 p.m., and the championship on Saturday at 1 p.m. can be seen on ESPN. Tech’s opener against North Carolina will have Mike Hogewood and Barbara Jordan on the call.

Danny Nokes will have the audio-only broadcast on Hokies XTra for all Virginia Tech games. That is free on any device.

Below is the full schedule for the tournament:

2015 ACC Softball Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 8
Game 1: 11 a.m. - #8 Boston College vs #1 Florida State; RSN/ESPN3
Game 2: 1:30 p.m. - #5 NC State vs. #4 Louisville; RSN/ESPN3
Game 3: 5 p.m. - #7 Virginia Tech vs. #2 North Carolina; RSN/ESPN3
Game 4: 7:30 p.m. - #6 Pitt vs. #3 Notre Dame; RSN/ESPN3

Friday, May 9
Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 1 p.m., RSN/ESPN3
Game 6: Game 3 Winner, vs. Game 4 Winner, 3:30 p.m., RSN/ESPN3

Saturday, May 10
Game 7: ACC Championship, 1 p.m., ESPN

RSN Clearances for Virginia Tech’s opener in the 2015 ACC Tournament
Thursday, May 7 – 5 p.m. vs. North Carolina
FOX Sports Carolinas
FOX Sports Sout
FOX Sports Florida
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
New England Sports Network Plu
FOX Sports Indiana Plus
FOX Sports San Diego
FOX Sports North Plus
FOX Sports Midwest Plus
FOX Sports Southwest Plus
FOX Sports Wisconsin
FOX Sports Prime Ticket
ESPN3 (Subject to Blackout)
FOX Sports Detroit Plus
ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
ROOT Sports Rocky Mtn.
MSG Plus

RSN Package
• FOX Sports Carolinas (FS Carolinas) - covers the states of North Carolina and South Carolina.

• FOX Sports South (FS South) - covers six states in the southeastern portion of the country: Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky.

• SUN Sports (SUN) or FOX Sports Florida (FS Florida) - both cover the state of Florida.

• Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (CSN Mid-Atlantic) - covers the states of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

• New England Sports Network (NESN) - covers the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

Fans should check the tournament page for clearances on other games as those differ from Tech’s first game.

For updates on Virginia Tech softball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Softball