In my opinion, it’s not even close to an either/or proposition as you suggested

Pitching Keely tonight versus UVA will have very little impact on Keely pitching versus Duke. From everything I understand, she wants the ball and she has been very, very successful versus UVA. Her confidence level has to be off the chart and she by far was our best option to get a win - and that is job one.

Could he have started someone else? Sure, but if it didn’t work out, there would be folks screaming that our softball program is suddenly in the gutter and nothing is further from the truth.

And don’t forget the impact on recruiting. The state of Virginia has a lot of quality softball players. Don’t you think it’s an advantage for the VT staff to point out that the Hokies have won the last 12 games versus UVA and 17 out of the last 18? I’m not a recruiting guru, but that certainly can’t hurt.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but personally I think starting Keely was absolutely the right call.