NC State Athletics Softball March 11, 2020 Undefeated NC State, Virginia Tech Will Clash in ACC Softball Schedule | Stats Noting ACC Softball Two ACC teams appear in the major rankings. Florida State is ranked No. 10 by ESPN.com/USA Softball, D1Softball and Softball American and No. 12 by the NFCA/USA Today. Virginia Tech is ranked No. 17 by the NFCA/USA Today, No. 18 by Softball America, No. 19 by D1Softball and No. 21 by ESPN.com/USA Softball. Duke is receiving votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball and NFCA/USA Today rankings while Clemson 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: NC State (sixth, 1.52), Florida State (17th, 1.22), Virginia Tech (18th, 1.21) and Clemson (23rd, 1.19). North Carolina (third, 2.65), NC State (18th, 2.04), Virginia Tech (27th, 1.79) and Florida State (28th, 1.78) rank among the top 30 nationally in stolen bases. Florida State (11th, 7.04), Virginia Tech (17th, 6.71), Duke (18th, 6.65) and Clemson (26th, 6.41) currently stand among the top 30 teams nationally in scoring. Four ACC teams sit among the top 35 teams nationally in ERA, with Duke (10th, 1.63) leading Virginia Tech (12th, 1.68), Notre Dame (20th, 1.86) and Boston College (2.03). Virginia Tech’s Keely Rochard’s leads the nation with 183 strikeouts, 15 wins and seven shutouts this season. Clemson’s Valerie Cagle is second nationally in RBI (31) and teammate Marissa Guimbarda is fourth in home runes (11). NC State’s Taty Forbes is second in the nation in hits this season with 43 and is fifth in batting average (.538). Teammate Sam Russ is third in stolen bases per game (0.88). 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. Virginia Tech will host NC State in a weekend ACC series between teams with unblemished conference records. Both squads are 3-0 in league play. The Hokies will first travel to George Mason for a Wednesday game. Louisville will welcome Boston College for a conference series this weekend, the first for the Cardinals. The series will feature a Friday doubleheader and a third game on Sunday. Georgia Tech hosts Clemson this weekend following a trip to Mercer. The Yellow Jackets won their first series against Boston College and the Tigers won their first two series against Virginia and Pitt. Florida State gears up for its first ACC series and will receive a visit from Duke this weekend. The Seminoles' league-leading scoring offense (7.04 runs/game) will be matched up with Duke's conference-best 1.63 ERA, which ranks 10th nationally. Virginia will host North Carolina for a weekend conference series. The Cavaliers are in search of their first ACC win and the Tar Heels will look to rebound after falling to Syracuse, 1-2, last weekend. Notre Dame heads to California for the 2020 Cal Poly Tournament this weekend, facing host Cal Poly, Santa Clara and Saint Mary's in games scheduled for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Pitt will head to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday for a game against the Charlotte 49ers before heading to Buies Creek, North Carolina, for the Camel Stampede tournament. The Panthers will play host Campbell and SJU. Syracuse is gearing up for the Tiger Classic this weekend in Memphis, Tennessee. The Orange are slated to play against host Memphis, Purdue, Tennessee State and UMass Lowell.