Lady Osprey Softball Weekly

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida softball team faces a loaded field this weekend in Boca Raton, Fla., where it will begin its season at the 2008 FAU Kick-Off Classic.

The Lady Ospreys will face a tough test when they square off with the likes of South Carolina, host FAU, UMass and Maryland.

The action gets started at 4 p.m. on Friday when UNF opens its season against South Carolina for the second year in a row. The Lady Ospreys dropped a 4-0 decision to the Gamecocks in last year's opener, which was also played at FAU.

Play continues at 6 p.m. on Friday when UNF takes on FAU before playing contests against UMass (9 a.m.) and Maryland (1 p.m.) on Saturday.

The Lady Ospreys are not without their share of firepower. UNF returns four seniors to a team that won 33 games last season. Atlantic Sun Preseason Player of the Year Gwen Williams headlines that squad. She will try to follow up on a year that saw her lead UNF in eight offensive categories and finish among the top 10 in the A-Sun in home runs, batting average and slugging percentage.

Devyn Findley – the 2007 A-Sun Freshman of the Year – anchors the pitching staff. Findley won 16 games last year and compiled a 1.81 ERA to go along with 144 strikeouts. Senior Tori Ahern and sophomore Joanna Kurycki will join Findley in the rotation.

12^th-ranked Michigan rounds out the field but will not face UNF in pool play.

Schedule

Friday vs. South Carolina, 4 p.m.

Friday vs. FAU, 6 p.m.

Saturday vs. UMass, 9 a.m.

Saturday vs. Maryland, 1 p.m.

Sunday, TBA (based upon order of finish in pool play)

Tournament Central: All games available on Gametracker (courtesy of FAU). Live audio will also be available for UNF's contest against FAU. Click here to access links.

Series Records: South Carolina (0-1), FAU (0-2), UMass (never met), Maryland (never met), Michigan (never met)

Notables: UNF is 12-3 in season openers … last year's season-opening loss to South Carolina snapped an eight-game winning streak for UNF on opening day … this season will be the last for UNF head coach Sonya Wilmoth, who is retiring from coaching collegiate softball at the end of the season to take a job as the director of softball operations at Diamond Baseball and Softball in Jacksonville … Wilmoth is two wins away from 500 in her career … she comes into this season with a 498-342 (.673) record and a 411-181 (.694) record at UNF in 11 years … Gwen Williams was the first student-athlete in any sport at UNF to be named the preseason player of the year in the Atlantic Sun Conference … Ashley Parenteau comes into the season tied for the all-time home run lead at UNF with 17, while Williams is right behind her with 15 … Tori Ahern ranks fifth on UNF's all-time list with 14 shutouts and fourth all-time with 334 strikeouts.

Quoting Coach Wilmoth: “We are going to get tested right away against four schools from big conferences. We need to get great pitching this weekend. For a lot of the girls on this team, this will be their first taste of Division I softball. We saw South Carolina last year and are familiar with FAU after being in the same conference with them two years ago. We will learn a little more about UMass and Maryland on Friday, but it is good to catch them early in the season because they probably haven't been outside much this year.”

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