JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball continues its season with a dual-doubleheader weekend slate in the JU-UNF Invitational, where they will take on Mercer twice on Friday, Feb. 18, and Michigan State twice on Saturday, Feb. 19.

The Ospreys start the season 4-1 with wins over Campbell and Florida A&M, as well as Winthrop twice, with their only loss occurred against NC State, in which they lost by one run in extra innings. It is also the first time that the Ospreys have started the year with a record of 4-1 or better since the 2015 season.

It is the second of three home tournaments that UNF will be hosting this season, with their last tournament being the UNF-JU Spring Break Challenge taking place from Mar. 4-6.

WHAT TO KNOW

- Morgan Clausen will look to continue her dominate start to the season, as she currently holds a 0.43 ERA through three games, including two complete-game shutout wins, 20 strikeouts and no walks allowed. Her stellar performances to open the year earned her the ASUN Pitcher of the Week award on Feb. 14.

- Erin Kyle dominated in her starts as well with a 1.78 ERA through 19.2 innings pitched, 12 strikeouts, and a 2-0 record over the first weekend of the season. Last week was her debut appearance for the Ospreys as a fifth-year senior after transferring in from Lamar.

- Shannon Glover leads all Osprey batters in batting average, OPS, at-bats, hits and total bases, and she is tied for the team lead in runs, doubles, home runs, and runs batted in to start the season. Her performance last week included back-to-back three-hit games against NC State and Winthrop for a combined three runs and three RBIs over those two games.

- Kayla Harper also had a three-hit game against NC State, as she made her mark to open the season as the leadoff batter in all five games. She holds a .375 BA with six hits, three runs, three RBIs, and a team-high three stolen bases in 16 ABs total. 

- Kayla McGory, who is the longest-tenured player on the team, didn't take long to get in a groove, as she has recorded a hit in four of the first five games of the season, including a two-run bomb in the first game against Winthrop. She joins Glover and Harper as a premier batter on the team with four hits, three runs, three RBIs, two doubles, and two steals over this past weekend.

- A few players impressed in their Osprey debuts, as Liberty transfer Savannah Channell and UCF transfer Hayley Bejarano were studs on the defensive side of the ball. Hadlee Reichert, who is the only freshman on the team, also grabbed the attention of many with four appearances during the River City Leadoff that included a two-RBI triple for her first-career plate appearance to seal the win against Winthrop.

OPPONENT NOTES

• Mercer finished last season with a 24-23 record, including 8-9 in Southern Conference, and has started this season 1-5, with a win against Loyola-Chicago, 4-3, at the Joanne Graf Invitational hosted by Florida State. Their top performer through six games at the plate this season has been junior Diamond Williams, with a .375 BA with six hits, three RBIs and a home run. Amber Byrd and Riley Hickok have been the pitching duo for the Bears with 33.2 innings pitched and 13 strikeouts combined.
  • UNF is knotted up in the overall series, 10-10, as they look to break a three-game losing streak to the Bears dating back to 2014.
• Michigan State capped off last season with a 14-26 record, with all games played within conference, and have started this season 3-2 with shutout wins over Pittsburgh, UConn and Akron. Camryn Wincher is the leading batter for the Spartans through six game this season with a .417 BA, with five hits over 12 ABs and an RBI. Ashley Miller will be the top pitcher, as she has pitched three complete games with no earned runs allowed and only allowing seven hits so far this season.
  • UNF trails in the overall series, 1-0, with their only game against the Spartans being a 10-2 in Boca Raton, Fla., during the 2017 season.

FULL SCHEDULE (at UNF)

Friday
Mercer vs UNF - 5 p.m.
Mercer vs UNF - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday
Michigan State vs UNF - 3:30 p.m.
Michigan State vs UNF - 6 p.m.