ORLANDO, Fla. - The North Florida softball team opens up its season this weekend with four games against four different opponents, two of which who made appearances in NCAA postseason play a year ago.

Live Coverage:
UNF vs. No. 21/23 Minnesota | Live Stats
UNF vs. Ohio State | Live Stats
UNF vs. George Mason | Live Stats
UNF vs. UCF | Live Stats | Video
 

The Matchups

Opponents	No. 21/23 Minnesota	Ohio State	George Mason	UCF
Date / Time	Feb. 8 at 5 p.m.	Feb. 9 at 3 p.m.	Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m.	Feb. 10 at 3:30 p.m.
Series History	UNF leads, 1-0	Series tied, 2-2	First Meeting	UCF leads, 13-5

Veteran Presence

• Seniors Navia Penrod and Dominica Cocuzza highlight a strong returning class for UNF, with both receiving ASUN Preseason honors.
• Tiffany Lower and Kayla McGory round out returning players that appeared in over 50 games.
• Sydney Matzko and Morgan Blourne are both returning after combining for 87% of starts on the mound in the 2018 campaign.
• Penrod was also selected to Softball America's first-ever Top 100 Team February 7.

New Birds

• Freshman Veronika Klimplova played with the Czech Republic Women's Softball National Team and hit .471 with her club team.
• Junior Taylor Engman joins a solid outfield core after two years at State College of Florida. Engman finished last year with a .374/.415/.469 line for the Manatees.
• The Ospreys have seven freshman on the squad, most by a single freshman class since 2011.

Scouting the Opponents

No. 21/23 Minnesota

• Finished with a 41-17 record under first-year head coach Jamie Trachsel.
• Have made six consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.
• Gophers ace pitcher Amber Fiser returns for her junior year after posting a 27-10 record with a 1.69 ERA, leading a pitching staff that ranked in the top-15 in ERA last season.
• Fiser was named to the Top-50 Watch List by USA Softball.
• Minnesota comes into the season as the three-time defending Big Ten Tournament champions, going into the tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Ohio State

• Finished with a 36-16 record under seven-year head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly.
• Have made three straight NCAA Softball Regional appearances.
• Senior shortstop Lilli Piper returns after leading the Buckeyes with a .404 batting average and .876 slugging percentage, good enough to give her Second Team All-American honors. Piper was too named to the Top-50 Watch List by USA Softball.

George Mason

• Finished with a 22-28 record under year head coach Joe Verbanic, who is going into his 14th season.
• The Patriots advanced to the A-10 Championship last season, falling to Saint Louis.
• Similar to the Ospreys, George Mason has a strong core of returning players for the 2019 season, bringing back all but one starter.
• Sophomore pitcher Bekah Ansbro was atop the A-10 conference with 127 strikeouts last year.
• Senior outfielder Jess Curbeira also returns for the Patriots after leading the team with a .307 batting average.

UCF

• Finished with a 34-22 record under longtime head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie
• UCF softball starts a new era under Cindy Ball-Malone, who took Boise State to the NCAA Tournament this past season with a 40-16 record.
• Senior catcher Cassady Brewer was named to the AAC First-Team and NFCA First Team All-Region squads a year ago, hitting .429.
• Hurler Alea White will return to the circle for the Knights after finishing the regular season ranked fourth in wins among Division I pitchers.