JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball (29-11, 5-4) will head across town to compete in the River City Rumble against Jacksonville (11-18, 5-4) this weekend at the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex.

The Ospreys have their sights set on their third consecutive regular-season series win against the Dolphins. They will also be looking to cut the lead from JU in the annual battle for the "Old Wooden Barrel" that goes to the school with the most wins against each other across all sports.

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

WHAT TO KNOW

- Halle Arends goes into the River City Rumble with the best ERA on the pitching staff at 1.15 with 12 wins to her name this season. Morgan Clausen and Erin Kyle have also been spectacular this season with each of them notching ERAs under 1.70, while totaling 16 wins on top of Arends' total of 12.

- Paige Pfent remains the lead batter on the team with a .361 batting average to go with 43 hits, 24 RBI and five home runs. She also has the top slugging percentage at .580, as well as the top on-base percentage at .409.

- Shannon Glover has steadily been able to improve her batting average to .320, as she currently has a four-game hitting streak and has hits in five of her last six games. Her four total home runs on the season is also only one short of Pfent's team-high mark of five.

- Kayla Harper is also on a hitting streak with four straight games with a hit as well, along with two runs scored in the final game against Central Arkansas this past weekend. She has a strong hold for the stolen bases lead on the team at 18 steals.

- Regan Hermeling and Savannah Channell continue to be key pieces in the lineup, joining Harper, Glover, and Pfent as starters in all 12 conference games. Hermeling also sits with Harper and Glover with over a .300 BA in conference play, while Channell has the most RBI on the team in ASUN games.

OPPONENT NOTES

• Jacksonville is 11-18 through this season with a 5-4 record to start conference play in the ASUN. They started their season with 11 straight losses and currently post a 6-11 record at home. They head into this weekend's series on a four-game losing streak after a midweek loss to No. 3 Florida State and falling by the way of a sweep at North Alabama. The Dolphins have four batters hitting over a .300 average with Joely Leguizamon leading the pack at 18-for-53 (.340 BA). The other three hitters all have over 14 RBI and combine for 19 extra-base hits on the year. Allison Bratek is the home-run leader on the squad with three total through 29 games. Skylar Whitty is the ace on their pitching staff with 14 starts in 21 appearances, as well as 10 complete games with a 7-7 record. She also has a 6.66 ERA in 100.0 innings pitched with 56 total strikeouts this season.
  • UNF leads in the overall series against the Dolphins, 26-19, with their last meeting being a 2-0 loss in the ASUN Tournament on May 8, 2021, in Jacksonville, Fla.

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will stay in town for a third consecutive weekend when they face Kennesaw State in a conference series from Apr. 15-16.

SERIES SCHEDULE

Saturday
UNF vs Jacksonville (DH) - 1 p.m. ET
UNF vs Jacksonville (DH) - 3:30 p.m. ET
 
Sunday
UNF vs Jacksonville - 1 p.m. ET