JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball (32-11, 8-4 ASUN) looks to continue its success against ASUN competition when it plays hosts to Kennesaw State (12-22, 4-8 ASUN) starting on Friday at the UNF Softball Complex.

The Ospreys are on a six-game winning streak in conference play with back-to-back sweeps against Central Arkansas and Jacksonville. They recently set a program DI record with three straight double-digit scoring games against the Dolphins in the River City Rumble.

The first games will start on Friday with a doubleheader matchup starting at 4 pm, with the second game following 30 minutes afterwards. It will then be followed by a third game on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.

WHAT TO KNOW

- Kayla McGory won her first-career ASUN Softball Player of the Week after her incredible weekend across town. She recorded five hits with a .500 BA, 10 RBI, three runs and a grand slam to help sweep JU.

- Morgan Clausen takes back her place on top of the conference in ERA at 1.28 after her dominant performance in the first game against JU. Halle Arends also picked up a pair of wins this past weekend to hold a share of being the wins leader in the ASUN at 14 total.

- Clausen and Arends, as well as Erin Kyle, still remain the top-three ERAs in the ASUN halfway through conference play. The pitching staff as a whole have some national numbers as well, as they rank fourth in the NCAA for both team ERA (1.47) and total shutouts (17).

- Paige Pfent is still the leader in the clubhouse for batting average (.352), total hits (45), and RBI (29) on the season. Savannah Channell has improved her play throughout the season, as she has popped off with a .368 BA, 11 RBI, nine runs, and two homers in 15 conference games played.

- Shannon Glover and Kayla Harper continue to be consistent and durable, as they join Pfent and McGory as the only players with over a .300 BA. They also join Pfent as the only three players to play and start in all 43 games on the year.

- The Ospreys hit six home runs combined over their past three games with all of them being against JU. Hayley Bejarano hit one in the first game and Abi Annett hit back-to-back bombs in the second game, along with Shannon Glover, Savannah Channell and Kayla McGory all getting in on the action in the third game.

OPPONENT NOTES

• Kennesaw State is 12-22 overall with a 4-8 record in ASUN play so far this season. They are 0-8 against Power Five teams on the year, but have signature wins against Loyola-Chicago and Mercer in the Joanne Graf Classic hosted by FSU. They will be coming off a weekend where they were swept by Liberty on the road, who is currently the top-ranked team in the conference. Taylor Cates is far and away the Owls' best batter on the team with a .385 batting average (40-for-104), which is .81 points better than the second-best batter. She also leads the team in other stat categories such as total hits (40), runs (23), RBI (28), home runs (11), total bases (83), doubles (10), and steals (7), as well as slugging percentage (.798) and on-base percentage (.419). The pitching ace for the Owls is Melanie Bennett, who holds a 3.87 ERA with a total of 113 strikeouts on the season. She has thrown 12 complete games in 16 starts and 23 appearances. She also has a 9-10 record, which is the best on the team, in 118.2 innings pitched.
  • UNF trails in the overall series against the Owls, 21-50, with their last meeting being a 2-0 win on April 7, 2019, in Jacksonville, Fla.

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will play in a non-conference doubleheader on the road against Georgia Southern on Wednesday, Apr. 20, starting at 4 pm.

SERIES SCHEDULE

Friday
UNF vs Kennesaw State (DH) - 4 p.m. ET
UNF vs Kennesaw State (DH) - 6:30 p.m. ET
 
Saturday
UNF vs Kennesaw State - 1 p.m. ET