JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball (23-6, 2-1) hosts their first home ASUN series of the season when it plays against Lipscomb (9-15, 0-0) this weekend at the UNF Softball Complex. The first games will start on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 pm and 3:30 pm, followed by a single game at 1 pm on Sunday afternoon.

This will be the first time UNF will be playing Lipscomb since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the condensed conference schedule last season. The Ospreys will look to win their first regular-season series over the Bison since 2016.

The Ospreys are riding one of their best starts to a season in program history with 23 wins through 29 games, including only one loss in their past 15 games. The pitching staff has also notched 14 total shutouts this season, which is tied for the most in the NCAA so far this season.

WHAT TO KNOW

- Morgan Clausen, Halle Arends and Erin Kyle continue to be the anchor for the Ospreys, as they lead the ASUN with the top three ERAs and have pitched 178 of the 194.1 innings pitched through 29 games. Clausen has the only ERA under one in the conference with 0.56, while Arends leads the team in strikeouts.

- Izzy Kelly has emerged as a another dominant pitching threat after spinning a complete-game win in the second doubleheader game against Bucknell on Wednesday. It was the first win of her career and her second-career start after coming in as a reliever multiple times this season.

- Paige Pfent has been on fire this season batting .407 with 35 hits and four home runs while starting all 29 games. She was unstoppable in the Bucknell doubleheader earlier this week combining for five hits, two runs, four RBI, and a home run to help run-rule the first game, 9-1, and to take the second game, 4-0.

- Kayla Harper and Shannon Glover join Pfent as the only three players to start in all 29 games this season. All three of them average over .305 batting on the season and have combined for 90 hits, 46 runs, 46 RBI, and nine home runs.

- The Ospreys have had seven games this year where three UNF batters have recorded two hits or more in the same game. They also had eight of the nine starters record a hit in the first game against Bucknell this past week.

OPPONENT NOTES

• Lipscomb is 9-15 through non-conference play and will open their ASUN play against the Ospreys this weekend. They have played in five different tournaments against four Power Five teams and two ranked teams. The Bison are coming off a loss to No. 2 Florida State followed by a win against Quinnipiac heading into this series. Amy Vetula and Presley Leebrick are the hitters to watch out for in this series, as they both have batting averages over .345 in 24 starts each this season. Maci Cunconan also joins Vetula and Leebrick with 20 hits or more and 10 or more runs this season. The pitching has been diverse as well with four pitchers throwing for 32 or more innings. Laine Barefoot is head of the group with a 3.02 ERA and four wins in 13 appearances, as well as four complete games and 28 strikeouts.
  • UNF trails in the overall series against the Bison, 14-23, with their last meeting being a 8-2 loss on May 11, 2019, at the ASUN Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla.

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will continue conference play next weekend when they head out of state for the first time this season to play at Jacksonville State starting Saturday, Mar. 26.

SERIES SCHEDULE

Saturday
Lipscomb vs UNF (DH) - 1 p.m.
Lipscomb vs UNF (DH) - 3 p.m.

Sunday
Lipscomb vs UNF - 1 p.m.