Saturday, April 30
Jacksonville, Fla.
1 p.m.
University of North Florida
vs
Liberty
DIAMOND PREVIEW: Softball Hosts Liberty For Regular Season Finale
4/29/2022 1:00:00 PM | Softball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball (39-12, 16-5 ASUN) will play in its final home series of the regular season when UNF faces defending ASUN champions, Liberty (35-13, 18-0 ASUN), starting on Saturday afternoon at the UNF Softball Complex.
The Ospreys, who have the second-best record in the league, will battle the team with an undefeated conference record on the season with 18 straight wins in ASUN play. They will also be playing Liberty for the first time since the 2019 season, where their last game was eliminating the Flames in the semifinals of the ASUN Tournament.
The first game will start on Saturday with a doubleheader matchup starting at 1 pm. There will be 10 Ospreys honored in between games for Senior Day, in which the second matchup starts shortly after the presentation ends. It will then be followed by a third game on Sunday afternoon at 12 pm.
- Halle Arends leads the league in both total wins (19) and total strikeouts (154) by relatively wide margins in each category. She has also pitched the most innings for the Ospreys this season (138.0) and has finished the most complete-game performances with seven total.
- Morgan Clausen is another Osprey pitcher with double-digit wins at 12 total, along with six complete-game performances and 96 total strikeouts. She also leads the ASUN with the best ERA at 1.32, as well as the most saves with six total.
- Erin Kyle and Izzy Kelly round out a pitching staff that currently ranks fourth in the nation for both team ERA (1.61) and total shutouts (17). Clausen, Arends and Kyle all have ERA's under 1.80, while Kelly boasts a 2.56 ERA in 12 appearances.
- Shannon Glover posted career numbers against Stetson this past weekend with six total hits, four RBI, three runs scored and two home runs. She has recorded a hit in 13 of the past 15 games, including four multi-hit games in the past seven games and three home runs in the past four games.
- Paige Pfent still obtains one of the highest batting averages in the ASUN with a .353 BA, along with 53 hits and 36 RBI on the year. She came in the clutch during the second doubleheader matchup against Stetson to break the game open with a three-run homer in the 7-3 victory.
- Kayla Harper also has a hot bat as of recent with a four-game hitting streak, including multiple hits in three of the last four, and four straight games with a run scored. Harper, along with Glover and Pfent, are the only three players to start and play in all 51 games so far this season.
The Ospreys will have the weekend off and wait for their seeding in the ASUN Softball Tournament that will be hosted at UNF Softball Complex from May 10-14.
Saturday
UNF vs Liberty (DH) - 1 p.m.
UNF vs Liberty (DH) - 3:30 p.m.
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Sunday
UNF vs Liberty - 12 p.m.
The Ospreys, who have the second-best record in the league, will battle the team with an undefeated conference record on the season with 18 straight wins in ASUN play. They will also be playing Liberty for the first time since the 2019 season, where their last game was eliminating the Flames in the semifinals of the ASUN Tournament.
The first game will start on Saturday with a doubleheader matchup starting at 1 pm. There will be 10 Ospreys honored in between games for Senior Day, in which the second matchup starts shortly after the presentation ends. It will then be followed by a third game on Sunday afternoon at 12 pm.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Halle Arends leads the league in both total wins (19) and total strikeouts (154) by relatively wide margins in each category. She has also pitched the most innings for the Ospreys this season (138.0) and has finished the most complete-game performances with seven total.- Morgan Clausen is another Osprey pitcher with double-digit wins at 12 total, along with six complete-game performances and 96 total strikeouts. She also leads the ASUN with the best ERA at 1.32, as well as the most saves with six total.
- Erin Kyle and Izzy Kelly round out a pitching staff that currently ranks fourth in the nation for both team ERA (1.61) and total shutouts (17). Clausen, Arends and Kyle all have ERA's under 1.80, while Kelly boasts a 2.56 ERA in 12 appearances.
- Shannon Glover posted career numbers against Stetson this past weekend with six total hits, four RBI, three runs scored and two home runs. She has recorded a hit in 13 of the past 15 games, including four multi-hit games in the past seven games and three home runs in the past four games.
- Paige Pfent still obtains one of the highest batting averages in the ASUN with a .353 BA, along with 53 hits and 36 RBI on the year. She came in the clutch during the second doubleheader matchup against Stetson to break the game open with a three-run homer in the 7-3 victory.
- Kayla Harper also has a hot bat as of recent with a four-game hitting streak, including multiple hits in three of the last four, and four straight games with a run scored. Harper, along with Glover and Pfent, are the only three players to start and play in all 51 games so far this season.
OPPONENT NOTES
- Liberty is 35-13 overall with an undefeated 18-0 record in ASUN play to this point of the season. They started the season rough with five straight losses, but still picked up key wins against seven Power Five programs, including Ohio State, Notre Dame and Louisville. They have yet to lose a game in conference play this year, but will be coming off a midweek loss to No. 12 Tennessee. The best bats for the Flames on the season have been Devyn Howard and Caroline Hudson. Howard has been the more consistent hitter, as she leads the team in batting average at .342 and runs scored at 47. Caroline Hudson, on the other hand, is the more explosive hitter with 14 total home runs, which is double the second-most on the team. On the pitching side, they have a three-headed staff with all ERA's under 2.50. McKenzie Wagoner leads the team in ERA at 1.98, while Emily Kirby has the most strikeouts with 102 and Karlie Keeney has the most wins with 15 total.
- UNF trails in the overall series against the Flames, 4-2, with their last meeting being a 3-1 win on May 11, 2019, in Fort Myers, Fla.
SENIOR DAY HONOREES
- Bailee Aguigui
- Hayley Bejarano
- Morgan Clausen
- Ashley Goebel
- Rebecca Koskey
- Erin Kyle
- Takiya London
- Kayla McGory
- Paige Pfent
- Maggie Trgo
UP NEXT
The Ospreys will have the weekend off and wait for their seeding in the ASUN Softball Tournament that will be hosted at UNF Softball Complex from May 10-14.
SERIES SCHEDULE
SaturdayUNF vs Liberty (DH) - 1 p.m.
UNF vs Liberty (DH) - 3:30 p.m.
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Sunday
UNF vs Liberty - 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
SS
/ Softball
UT
/ Softball
OF
/ 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
