Ospreys Ready for Final Two Days of Homestand

USC Upstate vs North Florida Flip Card

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida softball team heads into the last two days of its five-day Atlantic Sun Conference homestand, playing USC Upstate on Friday, April 9, at 3 p.m. and East Tennessee State on Saturday, April 10, at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.

Currently the Ospreys (20-21, 6-4 A-Sun) are behind Lipscomb (29-7, 8-0 A-Sun) and USC Upstate (25-7, 5-3 A-Sun) for the top spot in the conference standings.

The A-Sun Tournament will be hosted this year in DeLand, Fla., taking the top six teams in the conference. Florida Gulf Coast (18-24, 6-4 A-Sun) is not eligible for A-Sun Tournament play as they are still in the mandatory reclassification period.

In Tuesday's games, the Ospreys displayed why their defense and pitching ranks near the top in the nation.

North Florida's defense ranks 27th in the nation in fielding percentage with their .971, just beating out North Carolina, USF and Florida State.

The A-Sun series of the week will feature a clash between two top teams and two top pitchers with senior Devyn Findley and UNF hosting Morgan Childers and USC Upstate.

Findley ranks 16th in the nation in strikeouts with 190 as of April 4 and 17th in shutouts (6). The Alachua, Fla. native currently has 214 K's through Tuesday night's crosstown rumble. Findley recorded 15 strikouts in game one on Tuesday to beat her career record of strikeouts in a game and followed that performance by whiffing nine batters in game two to seal her 16th win of the season.

USC Upstate enters the doubleheader coming off a win over South Carolina on Monday, beating the Gamecocks, 6-0. Childers (21-3) tossed a complete game shutout, sitting down 12. South Carolina only mustered two hits in Childers' 21st win of the season (leads A-Sun in wins).

Childers tops all A-Sun pitchers with a 0.60 ERA, while ranking third with 12.5 strikeouts per seven innings and fourth in total strikeouts, 261.

In conference play, Crislyn Chewning leads the team with her batting average of .417. Lauren Quevedo has four home runs on the season with one coming in A-Sun play.

As of April 4, the Spartans are number one in the nation in fielding percentage with a .985 average.

In addition to the Spartans, the Ospreys also play East Tennessee State (14-24, 3-5 A-Sun). Not only does a win against ETSU help North Florida stay near the top of the conference, but it also would send the UNF seniors out on a high note. Findley, Airen Payne and Kara Rutenbar make up the 2010 senior class who will be honored before Saturday's doubelheader.

ETSU comes to Jacksonville with a four game losing streak after losing to Virgina Tech on Tuesday and FGCU on Saturday. ETSU has one player hitting over .300 with Cheniece Cason's .315 batting average. Cason leads the Bucs in hits (41) and runs scored (26).

Pitcher Jessica Duncan (6-7) has six wins on the season, which is the most in the Bucs' rotation. Duncan has posted a 3.05 ERA with 15 games started and only four complete games. The Ooltewah, Tenn. native has not recorded a shutout and is currently ranked 16th out of the 31 starting pitchers in the A-Sun in ERA.

As a team the Bucs' pitching staff sits second to last in the conference in ERA with a 3.72.

ASUN.TV will stream only Friday's matchup but live stats will be available for both games this weekend.

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