UNC to play Hokies in ACC softball tournament; N.C. State gets Louisville

ACC: The bracket for the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Championship is set. The three-day event, which begins on Thursday and concludes on Saturday will be hosted by Virginia Tech, with all games being played at Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg.

The top eight teams based on win percentage in ACC games will participate in the championship.

Florida State (41-12, 20-3) grabbed the championship’s top seed and is No. 10 in the latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The Seminoles will play Boston College (27-22, 6-14) in the first game on Thursday at 11 a.m.

North Carolina (35-13, 16-5), the second seed, will take on seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (33-20, 8-12) at 5 p.m. Thursday. The Tar Heels took both games against the Hokies during the regular season.

Third-seeded Notre Dame (40-12, 17-6) will square off against sixth-seeded Pitt (33-18, 10-11) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, as both teams will compete in their second ACC Championship. The Irish swept the regular season series against the Panthers, 3-0.

Fourth-seeded Louisville (28-16, 15-7), participating in its first ACC Championship, will battle fifth-seeded N.C. State (34-19, 13-8) at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Cardinals and Wolfpack have yet to meet this season.

Saint Augustine’s: Southern Division Co-Champion Saint Augustine’s University earned its second straight trip to the CIAA Softball Championship finals after defeating Chowan University 4-1 in the winner’s bracket at Walnut Creek Softball Complex on Saturday.

Freshman Jasmine Rios sparked the Lady Falcons against Chowan, the Northern Division champions. The first-year outfielder went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, one RBI and two runs scored. Her solo homer over the right field fence in the fourth inning padded the Lady Falcons’ lead to 4-1 after Tina White put the Hawks (24-13) on the scoreboard in the third inning with an RBI double to score Jordan Burland-Card.

The Lady Falcons pounded out 12 hits but left eight runners on base. They scored enough runs to build an early lead then relied on good pitching and defense.

High Point: The High Point University men’s lacrosse team won 9-8 to earn the Southern Conference Championship over No. 20 Richmond in double overtime on Saturday in Richmond, Va.

This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 7:24 PM with the headline "UNC to play Hokies in ACC softball tournament; N.C. State gets Louisville."