This weekend at Tech

Here's what's going on around Hokie sports for the weekend of April 24-25:

Softball vs. North Carolina

The No. 18 Hokies (39-12, 15-3) close out ACC play by hosting the No. 14 Tar Heels (47-8, 16-1). The two teams play a doubleheader starting at noon Saturday and play the third game of the series at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

UNC has a two game lead on the Hokies in the loss column of the ACC standings. Tech would have to sweep the Tar Heels to be regular season ACC champs and get the top seed in the ACC Tournament.

The Hokies were 3-0 against the Tar Heels in 2007, beating them twice in Chapel Hill and once at the ACC Tournament. Tech is 5-1 at home against the ACC this season.

UNC has a pair of capable pitchers. Danielle Spalding is 14-2, 0.92 in 18 appearances (16 starts) and Lisa Norris is 17-3, 0.98 in 24 appearances (21 starts). Spalding is also one of the Tar Heels' top hitters. She is tied for the team lead in home runs with 10 while batting .326 with 32 RBIs.

Baseball at Clemson

Tech (18-23, 4-17) travels to Clemson for a three-game series with the Tigers (21-20-1, 7-13-1). The two teams play at 7:15 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Hokies are 2-10 on the road in ACC play this season. Both wins came against Wake Forest.

By Clemson standards, it's been a sub-par year for the Tigers. They are third in the Atlantic division and are battling for a spot in the ACC Tournament. Tiger pitchers are a bit gopherball-prone. They've allowed 43 this season in 369.1 IP. Tech batters have hit 31 home runs this season. Clemson is led offensively by Ben Paulsen, who is hittting .314 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.