University of North Florida
USC Upstate
Softball Hits the Road for USC Upstate and ETSU
3/31/2011 1:52:29 PM | Softball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida softball team (17-18, 1-3 A-Sun) returns to Atlantic Sun Conference play this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders in its first A-Sun road trip of the season. The Ospreys will meet USC Upstate (30-5, 2-2 A-Sun) in Spartanburg, S.C. on Friday at 4 p.m. and ETSU (13-17, 2-2 A-Sun) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Having split its last two doubleheaders against Mercer and Bethune-Cookman, the Ospreys enter the weekend looking to keep the momentum moving forward. The squad's walk-off victory, compliments of senior Caroline Torre's homerun, over Mercer on March 26 snapped a five-game losing streak. In North Florida's last outing, Bethune-Cookman defeated the Ospreys at home in the first of two games, while the Ospreys earned game two on a walk-off RBI double by freshman Mariah Reynolds.
Of North Florida's 18 losses, eight came at the hands of either nationally-ranked teams or squads that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Freshman Cortney Radke leads North Florida in the circle, pitching 169 innings this season and boasting an ERA of 1.99. Radke has tallied five shutouts in 17 complete games on the year and has fanned 186 batters en route to a record of 15-11. At the plate, freshman Brittany Hendrix has emerged as the leader, hitting .307 overall and an impressive .545 (6-of-11) in conference play. Sophomore Jackie Reese is taking care of the power hitting with her five homeruns on the year, including five doubles.
After beginning the season 28-3 and moving into the top 25 in the polls at No. 25, USC Upstate enters the weekend after having lost two of its last four and dropped out of the rankings. The Spartans have two batters hitting over .400, led by Janna Lewis' .447 batting average. The team has Lauren Quevedo and Katie Zauner to turn to for power as they have belted seven and nine homeruns, respectively, while Zauner boasts a team-high 34 RBI on the year. The Spartans have one of the best pitchers in the nation this year in Morgan Childers who has a record of 21-3, including 250 strikeouts and a 1.39 ERA in 140.2 innings of work.
In the all-time series, the Spartans hold a considerable 21-5 advantage over the Ospreys with most of the meetings coming when the two programs were playing at the Division II level in the Peach Belt Conference. Since beginning play in the A-Sun in 2006, USC Upstate holds a 6-3 advantage, though North Florida claimed the last meeting, 3-2, on April 9, 2010 in Jacksonville. The Ospreys haven't won in Spartanburg since March 27, 2004 and has a record of 3-3 when playing at USC Upstate.
East Tennessee State began conference play last weekend by losing twice to Lipscomb, followed by a sweep of Belmont, and will continue its 10-game home stand by facing Jacksonville on Friday before meeting North Florida on Saturday. The Buccaneers are paced at the plate by Katie Henderson who is hitting .376, smacking four homeruns on the year to go along with a team-high eight doubles and 20 RBI. Jessica Duncan has worked the most time in the circle, hurling 75 innings to a record of 6-7 and ERA of 4.20 entering weekend play.
North Florida has matched up against East Tennessee State just 10 times, but holds a commanding 9-1 advantage in the series over the Buccaneers. The Ospreys lost the first meeting ever between the two schools on March 24, 2006, but has claimed each meeting since and is 4-0 in Johnson City.
