Tuesday, February 22
Jacksonville, Fla.
6 p.m.
University of North Florida
vs
Florida
DIAMOND PREVIEW: Softball Ready for Midweek Home-and-Home Against No. 3 Florida
2/21/2022 4:00:00 PM | Softball
Ospreys Host Tuesday, Travel to Gainesville Wednesday
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball looks to continue its dominant start to the season when they take on No. 3 Florida at home on Tuesday, Feb. 22, followed by a road trip to Gainesville for a rematch on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
The Ospreys post an 8-1 record, which ties their best D-I start in program history, after their impressive start to the season by adding four more wins in the JU-UNF Invitational this past weekend with a pair of doubleheader wins over Mercer and Michigan State. They were led by the arm of Halle Arends and the bat of Kayla McGory to comeback in all four games played, including their first pair of wins over a Power Five program on the same day since 2020.
Florida will be the third Power Five team that the Ospreys will go up against this season, as they lost to NC State in extra innings on opening weekend and took down Michigan State twice in their doubleheader on Sunday. Iowa, Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Florida State also remain on the schedule for UNF in 2022.
- Halle Arends made her season debut over the weekend at the JU-UNF Invitational and did not disappoint with a combined 0.00 ERA, 18 strikeouts, and a 3-0 record. Two of her three wins were against Michigan State where she came in relief and held the Spartans hitless in the first game to then come back and start the second game and pitch 6.1 innings to win again in extras. Her spectacular performance earned her the ASUN Pitcher of the Week honor just a week after Morgan Clausen won it to open the season.
- The three-headed monster of Arends, Clausen, and Erin Kyle will look to bring their best to the table against Florida this week, as all three have ERAs of less than two and have combined for four complete games and 54 strikeouts. They have also pitched a combined 62 of the 65 total innings played through the first nine games and have not allowed any home runs this season.
- Kayla McGory has been one of the most consistent bats for the Ospreys this season with a .385 batting average (10-for-26) and a hit in eight of nine games played. She was on fire over the JU-UNF Invitational weekend after batting .500 (6-for-16) with a home run and multiple clutch hits to set up comeback wins over Mercer and Michigan State.
- Shannon Glover continues to lead the team in batting average at .385 (10-for-26), while also holding a share of the team lead in runs (7), hits (10), and RBIs (7). She followed up back-to-back three-hit games on opening weekend with two crucial hits against Michigan State that sent in three runners over both games of the doubleheader wins.
- Ashley Goebel and Paige Pfent have also been steady behind the plate at catcher, as well as over the plate to hit. Goebel, who was selected to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference, has seven hits and two RBIs through the first nine games while Paige Pfent has nine hits and four RBIs, including the game-winning RBI single in the second doubleheader game against Michigan State in extra innings.
- Hadlee Reichert has already made an impact for the Ospreys with limited opportunities as the only freshman on the team after following up her walk-off triple and score on opening weekend with a double that set up the go-ahead score against Michigan State. She currently has three hits in six at-bats with two runs and two RBIs.
Tuesday
No. 3 Florida vs UNF - 6 p.m.
Wednesday
UNF @ No. 3Â Florida - 6 p.m.
The Ospreys post an 8-1 record, which ties their best D-I start in program history, after their impressive start to the season by adding four more wins in the JU-UNF Invitational this past weekend with a pair of doubleheader wins over Mercer and Michigan State. They were led by the arm of Halle Arends and the bat of Kayla McGory to comeback in all four games played, including their first pair of wins over a Power Five program on the same day since 2020.
Florida will be the third Power Five team that the Ospreys will go up against this season, as they lost to NC State in extra innings on opening weekend and took down Michigan State twice in their doubleheader on Sunday. Iowa, Notre Dame, Rutgers, and Florida State also remain on the schedule for UNF in 2022.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Halle Arends made her season debut over the weekend at the JU-UNF Invitational and did not disappoint with a combined 0.00 ERA, 18 strikeouts, and a 3-0 record. Two of her three wins were against Michigan State where she came in relief and held the Spartans hitless in the first game to then come back and start the second game and pitch 6.1 innings to win again in extras. Her spectacular performance earned her the ASUN Pitcher of the Week honor just a week after Morgan Clausen won it to open the season.- The three-headed monster of Arends, Clausen, and Erin Kyle will look to bring their best to the table against Florida this week, as all three have ERAs of less than two and have combined for four complete games and 54 strikeouts. They have also pitched a combined 62 of the 65 total innings played through the first nine games and have not allowed any home runs this season.
- Kayla McGory has been one of the most consistent bats for the Ospreys this season with a .385 batting average (10-for-26) and a hit in eight of nine games played. She was on fire over the JU-UNF Invitational weekend after batting .500 (6-for-16) with a home run and multiple clutch hits to set up comeback wins over Mercer and Michigan State.
- Shannon Glover continues to lead the team in batting average at .385 (10-for-26), while also holding a share of the team lead in runs (7), hits (10), and RBIs (7). She followed up back-to-back three-hit games on opening weekend with two crucial hits against Michigan State that sent in three runners over both games of the doubleheader wins.
- Ashley Goebel and Paige Pfent have also been steady behind the plate at catcher, as well as over the plate to hit. Goebel, who was selected to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference, has seven hits and two RBIs through the first nine games while Paige Pfent has nine hits and four RBIs, including the game-winning RBI single in the second doubleheader game against Michigan State in extra innings.
- Hadlee Reichert has already made an impact for the Ospreys with limited opportunities as the only freshman on the team after following up her walk-off triple and score on opening weekend with a double that set up the go-ahead score against Michigan State. She currently has three hits in six at-bats with two runs and two RBIs.
OPPONENT NOTES
- Florida finished last season with a 45-11 record and made it all the way to the NCAA Super Regionals before being swept by Georgia. They start this season undefeated with 10 straight wins going into Tuesday's match, including victories over No. 13 Michigan and No. 14 Duke. Like the Ospreys, the Gators boast a trio of pitchers with 14 or more innings pitched this season. Natalie Lugo is 2-0 with no earned runs allowed this season, while Elizabeth Hightower and Lexie Delbrey are a combined 7-0 and 42 strikeouts. The batters are also strong with the team hitting a combined 93-for-261 (.356) and the leading batter on the team, Kendra Falby, hitting 17-for-31 (.548).
- UNF trails the overall series, 11-0, as they will be looking for their first program win over the Gators in either game this week.
MIDWEEK SCHEDULE
TuesdayNo. 3 Florida vs UNF - 6 p.m.
Wednesday
UNF @ No. 3Â Florida - 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
INF
/ SoftballUNF Softball Complex Aerial Drone
Thursday, July 06
UNF Softball Fall Ball Scrimmage
Thursday, July 06
Pre-Tournament Interivew with Coach Hickey
Thursday, July 06
Head Softball Jeff Conrad - Hiring Feature
Wednesday, July 06
