DIAMOND PREVIEW: Softball Faces No. 2 Florida State in Midweek Matchup

Wednesday, March 30

Jacksonville, Fla.

3 p.m.

University of North Florida

Florida State

DIAMOND PREVIEW: Softball Faces No. 2 Florida State in Midweek Matchup

3/29/2022 2:00:00 PM | Softball

Game Notes Stream Live Stats

Neutral Site Matchup Hosted at JU

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball (26-9, 5-4) will face off against No. 2 Florida State (30-2, 7-2) in a neutral site game hosted by JU at the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

It will be the second ranked team and the seventh Power Five team UNF has played this season. The Ospreys will be searching for their first win against the Seminoles since 2009.

UNF looks to rebound from their first ASUN series loss of the season to Jacksonville State from this past weekend. All four losses in conference play have been decided by either one run or on the last play of the game.

WHAT TO KNOW

- Morgan Clausen had one of her most dominant performances by an Osprey pitcher on Saturday when she tossed 15 strikeouts against Jacksonville State, which was one shy of the program's D-I record. She leads the conference with an 0.82 ERA, as well as saves with three.

- Erin Kyle and Halle Arends will also be starting options for the pitching staff against the Noles, as they both continue to stay within a sub-two ERA in 21 combined starts. Clausen, Arends and Kyle sit 1-2-3 as the best ERA in the ASUN with no other pitcher in the conference averaging less than two earned runs.

- Paige Pfent continues to be the strongest bat for the Ospreys this season with multi-hit games in the doubleheader on Saturday, including a two-run home run to in the win against Jacksonville State. She tacks on to her total of recording a hit in 28 of the 35 games, along with becoming the sole team leader for home runs with five.

- Abi Annett blasted her second home run of the season just a week after she hit the first home run of her career against Lipscomb. Both homers were made in the first game each series and she had multiple hits in both of those games.

- Shannon Glover and Kayla Harper join Pfent as the only three players to have started all 35 games so far for UNF. Kayla McGory also joins that trio for only players on the team batting over a .300 average and recording over 25 hits.

- Savannah Channell had an impressive third game against the Gamecocks on Sunday going 3-for-4, including her first home run as an Osprey. The ASUN All-Freshman selection from last season has started in 31 of 35 games on the year and gets on base with a .364 on-base percentage.

OPPONENT NOTES

No. 2 Florida State has a strong 30-2 record so far in their 2022 campaign with wins over all six ranked teams that they have faced. The national runner-ups from last season only have two losses with both coming in conference play against Pittsburgh and Boston College. The Seminoles have a wide array of hitters with Kaley Mudge as the leader of the group batting .414 (29-for-70) with 19 runs, eight RBI, and two home runs. Devyn Flaherty, Sydney Sherrill and Kalei Harding are all starters from 2021 that have been impactful behind the plate this season. Kathryn Sandercock is the ace for FSU with a 15-0 record and an ERA of 0.82, while Danielle Watson has been a strong second option with a 1.53 ERA in 16 appearances.
- UNF trails in the overall series against the Seminoles, 1-16, with their last meeting being a 9-1 loss on Mar. 20, 2019, in Tallahassee, Fla.

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will jump right back into conference play this upcoming weekend when they face Central Arkansas in a three-game series starting on Saturday, Apr. 2.