Tournament Notes
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida softball team (9-9), currently 4-1 in last five games, will host the UNF Osprey Invitational this weekend, March 11-13. The tournament will be held at the UNF Softball Complex. The Ospreys will compete against Mount St. Mary's, Delaware State, No. 35 Kansas and Alabama State in a total of four games this weekend. The first game of the tournament on Friday will pit Delaware State and Alabama State at 2 p.m. North Florida's first game is on Friday against Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
North Florida hosted Delaware State at the UNF Softball Complex on Tuesday, March 2, defeating the Hornets in shutout fashion, 6-0. The Ospreys plated all six runs in the fifth inning to claim the victory. The shutout win marked the first time since April 3-9 the Ospreys have shutout three consecutive opponents. In addition, freshman pitcher Cortney Radke allowed no run for her second straight shutout, while fanning seven batters and walking just one.
WHO TO WATCH
North Florida freshmen Mariah Reynolds and Lauren Pollack lead the squad at the plate, batting .264 and .258, respectively. Reynolds has belted two homeruns on the year and legged out four doubles, while Pollack has one deep ball of her own and one double. Freshman pitcher Cortney Radke has been outstanding all season while getting most of the time in the circle for the Ospreys, pitching 99 innings and carrying an ERA of 2.05 with 98 strikeouts.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Ospreys will participate in its fifth, and last, tournament of the year as the squad heads to Clearwater, Fla. for the USF The Game Tournament where it will play five games at the Eddie C. Moore Complex. North Florida will first matchup against Liberty on March 18 with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m.
HOME SWEET HOME
North Florida is 3-0 at home in 2011 and 301-118 all-time when playing at home. As a team, the Ospreys are batting .275 at the UNF Softball Complex while holding opponents to just a .101 clip. In addition, the squad has not allowed a single opposing run to score while North Florida has plated 11 runs. No team visiting the Osprey's home complex has had a multibag hit, while the Ospreys have tallied seven doubles and one homerun.
TORRE LEADS ALL-TIME PUTOUTS
North Florida senior first baseman Caroline Torre recently broke the program record for most putouts in a career. Torre, one of the best fielders in North Florida history with a .987 fielding percentage which ranks seventh all-time, has tallied 895 putouts in her career, shattering the former record of 852. In addition, Torre is quickly approaching the career school record for most chances, currently with 959 while the record is 1,017.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Mount St. Mary's: Mount St. Mary's, 3-2 as of March 9, will play a doubleheader on Thursday at Georgia Southern before competing in the UNF tournament. Prior to its Georgia Southern matchup, the Mountaineers were led by senior Beth Everist at the plate who batted .438 with one homerun and two doubles. As a team, the Mount is batting just .218 but holding opponents to a .206 clip. In the circle, the Mount spreads the ball around evenly and the team carries a 2.33 ERA while striking out 23 batters as a staff.
Delaware State: This Delaware State squad, 5-4 as of March 9, will play a doubleheader against Jacksonville before competing in the UNF tournament. Prior to the team's Jacksonville matchup, the Hornets were led by Casey Beighley at the plate with a .406 average, including one homerun, two doubles and five RBI. As a team, the Hornets were batting .340 while holding opponents to a .238 clip and outscoring opponents, 55-28. Freshman hurler Ashlyn Campbell was 1-1 and had allowed four runs while fanning 18 batters.
Kansas: The No. 35 Kansas softball team (17-3) enters the weekend after dropping two of its last five games to Bradley and UNLV by scores of 10-7 and 10-1 (five innings), respectively. As a team, the Jayhawks are batting .325 with 29 homeruns and 23 doubles, in addition to 38-of-43 stolen bases. Kansas has five batters over .350, led by senior Brittany Hile who is hitting .379 with eight homeruns, five doubles and 25 RBI. Freshman hurler Kristin Martinez (9-1) has led the Jawhawk squad in the circle, pitching 58.1 innings in which she has allowed 16 earned runs on 43 hits. Martinez carries a 1.80 ERA and 32 strikeouts into the weekend.
Alabama State: Alabama State (3-11) comes to Jacksonville having lost six straight after claiming all three of its wins against the University of Maryland Easternshore. The Hornets are being outscored 101-34 by opponents and batting .240 as a team, while allowing opponents to hit at a .407 clip this season and only being outscored 17-16. Alabama State is led by sophomore Brehanna Rodrigues at the plate, hitting .321 with two homeruns, three doubles, four RBI and six walks. The Hornets top pitcher is freshman Stephanie Hernandez who carries a 2-5 record into the weekend with a 9.58 ERA in 41.1 innings of work.
SERIES HISTORY
Mount St. Mary's: North Florida last faced Mount St. Mary's on March 11, 2007, winning by a score of 12-0 in six innings - the game was played in the Stetson Tournament. The only other meeting was in the same tournament on the day before, March 10, in which the Ospreys claimed a 9-1 victory in six innings. The series is currently in the advantage of North Florida, 2-0.
Delaware State: The Ospreys will look to remain undefeated against Delaware State after most recently defeating the Hornets on Tuesday, March 2, in shutout fashion, 6-0. North Florida holds a 2-0 series advantaged over Delaware State. The only other time these two schools played each other was in the Winthrop/adidas Invitational on March 13, 2010 when North Florida claimed the contest, 4-1.
Kansas: This will be the first time the two programs have met each other in softball play.
Alabama State: This will be the first time the two programs have met each other in softball play.
