Duke Athletics Softball February 26, 2020 The First Three ACC Series Highlight Softball Weekend Action Schedule | Stats Noting ACC Softball The ACC won the Big Ten/ACC Softball Challenge for the third time in four years, finishing 25-19. Clemson, Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech went undefeated in the Challenge. Two ACC teams appear in the major rankings. Florida State is ranked No. 7 by Softball America, No. 8 by ESPN.com/USA Softball and D1Softball and No. 9 by the NFCA/USA Today. Virginia Tech is ranked No. 19 by NFCA/USA Today, No. 20 by ESPN.com/USA Softball, No. 21 by D1Softball and No. 22 by Softball America. Duke and Notre Dame are receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and NFCA/USA Today rankings while North Carolina is receiving votes in the NFCA/USA Today rankings. Four ACC teams average at least one home run per game, and rank among the top 25 nationally in home runs per game: Florida State (12th, 1.36), Virginia Tech (14th, 1.33), NC State (19th, 1.27) and Clemson (21th, 1.24). NC State (10th, 2.40), Virginia Tech (18th, 2.13), Notre Dame (27th, 1.93) and North Carolina (27th, 1.93) rank among the top 30 nationally in stolen bases. Virginia Tech (11th, 7.67), Florida State (17th, 7.18) and Duke (19th, 6.93), currently stand among the top 20 teams nationally in scoring. Three ACC teams sit among the top 30 teams nationally in ERA, with Notre Dame (11th, 1.47) leading Duke (13th, 1.51) and Boston College (27th, 1.82). Virginia ranks 19th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 3.81. NC State’s Taty Forbes leads the nation in hits this season with 29. Virginia Tech’s Keely Rochard’s 99 strikeouts are the best in the NCAA this season. Duke softball takes its league-best 13-2 record into a non-conference game against NC State before the ACC opener against Notre Dame this weeked. The Blue Devils' 13-2 mark is the best start in program history. Both the Blue Devils and the Fighting Irish earned votes in this week's ESPN.com/USA Softball and USA Today/NFCA Coaches polls. Clemson will host Virginia for its first-ever ACC series this weekend. The Tigers and Cavaliers are set for a 6 p.m. start on Friday, a 1 p.m. Saturday start and a noon pitch on Sunday at Clemson Softball Stadium. North Carolina will host Pitt in the third conference series of the weekend. The Boston College softball team will once again be at a non-conference road tournament this weekend, playing at the Bulldog Classic from Feb. 28-March 1 in Athens, Georgia, where the Eagles will face off against No. 14/15 Georgia, Eastern Illinois and Western Carolina. No. 8/9 Florida State returns to action after a 10-day break in the schedule. The Seminoles host UCF on Wednesday night, then head to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the Wooo Pig Classic. FSU will play No. 24 Arkansas, Baylor, Kent State and Villanova before coming home to host Holy Cross on Tuesday evening. Georgia Tech will be at home for the next six games, with Kennesaw State coming to town for a Wednesday evening game before the Yellow Jackets host the I-75 Challenge this weekend and welcome Iowa State, Penn State and Rider. Louisville grinds on with its challenging non-conference slate, traveling to Oklahoma this weekend for the OSU/Tulsa Invitational. The Cardinals will play No. 10 Oregon, UIC and of course hosts No. 15/14 Oklahoma State and Tulsa. Something will have to give in Wednesday evening's game when Duke travels to NC State. Both teams are riding at least a four-game winstreak with the Wolfpack currently on a six-game run. NC State will then host their own invitational over the weekend, as No. 24/25 James Madison, Lehigh and North Carolina A&T come to Raleigh. The USF Tournament is up next for Syracuse as heads down to Tampa to face host USF, Rutgers and Texas A&M - Corpus Christi. The Orange will play Rutgers on Friday morning at 9 a.m., Corpus-Christi the same morning at 11:30 a.m. and USF Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. Syracuse will play another two games in the tournament, with one more game on Saturday and another Sunday, but the times and opponents are TBD. Inclement weather postponed Virginia Tech's Wednesday (Feb. 26) game against Radford. With the JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge next, the Hokies will head south to Jacksonville, Florida, to face Purdue, Stony Brook, and hosts Jacksonville and North Florida.