JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida softball continues its tournament trek to open the season, as it plays co-hosts once again with Jacksonville University for the second annual UNF-JU Invitational. UNF will host games from Feb. 17-19 against Cleveland State, Penn State, Memphis and Bethune-Cookman.

This is the second of four home tournaments for the Ospreys this season. They went 2-1 in the River City Leadoff after weather canceled several games and will continue next month with the Spring Break Challenge from Mar. 3-4 and the UNF Invitational from Mar. 10-12.

All matchups hosted at the UNF Softball Complex will be broadcasted on SWOOPLife Live. Updates for each game will be made through live stats, as well as on Twitter at OspreySB for UNF games.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Head coach Jeff Conrad secured his first win as the UNF head softball coach after the 8-0 shutout, run-rule victory against IUPUI.
• It was the first time in program history that the opening game of the year ended in a run-rule win.
• Was also the first time since 2005 that UNF earned a shutout win to start the season.
• Ended last weekend at the River City Leadoff with a walk-off 3-1 win against Georgetown.
• Logan Jackson smashed the game-winning home run down by a run in the bottom of the seventh.
• Chloe Culp had an exceptional debut with the Ospreys with three hits and five RBI in her three starts.
• Madisyn Federico, Ashley Kirkbride, Kirsten Caravaca and Brynn Nevers all made their Osprey debuts last weekend as well.
• Federico and Caravaca both started a game each in their debuts the Virginia Tech transfer starting against Syracuse and the true freshman starting against Georgetown.
• Hadlee Reichert and Shannon Glover joins Culp with three hits each, while combining for three RBI.
• Izzy Kelly was the lead pitcher last weekend with 12.1 innings pitched and seven strikeouts.
• She posted a 2-0 record to start the season after appearing in all three games with a 1.70 ERA. 
• Three of the four teams UNF faces this weekend have cats as a mascot.

OPPONENT NOTES

• Cleveland State finished last season with a 22-24 overall record, including an 18-8 record in conference play. The Vikings play in the Horizon League and will be the second team UNF has faced this season from that conference (IUPUI). They went out with back-to-back losses in the Horizon League Championship tournament in 2022. Jenna Deang led the team last season in average hitting .326 from the plate, along with 43 hits, 23 runs and 16 RBI. Becky Hurosky is the returning player with the most home runs from last season with six total, as no other returner has more than two.
  • This will be the first meeting between these two teams in program history.
• Penn State played last season with a 32-22 record with a 13-10 record for conference play in the Big Ten. They narrowly defeated Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament but lost to Nebraska in the following round. The Nittany Lions will begin their season at UNF after all their tournament games at Coastal Carolina were canceled last weekend. Cassie Lindmark is the top batter from last year with a .400 batting average in 160 plate appearances. She recorded 64 total hits with 22 runs, 34 RBI and seven home runs in 2022.
  • UNF leads the overall series against the Nittany Lions, 1-0, with the last meeting being a 2-1 victory at Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in 2016.
• Memphis went 16-38 in 2022 to go along with their 2-16 record in conference play in the American. They saw an early exit to Wichita State in their postseason tournament as well. Led by first-year head coach Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro, they will enter the UNF-JU Invitational looking for their first win of the season after going 0-5 on opening weekend. Sam Ibison was the top player to open the season for the Tigers after going 5-for-11 with a .993 OPS in four games played in the SDSU Season Kickoff tournament.
  • UNF trails the overall series against the Tigers, 3-2, with the last meeting being a 5-0 defeat at Lafayette, La., in 2018.
• Bethune-Cookman notched a record of 24-26 overall and 17-7 within the conference last season. They ended their 2022 in the SWAC with a win against Southern, but back-to-back losses in the conference tournament. Last weekend, they played in the FAU Invitational and went 1-4 with a 4-1 win against Loyola-Chicago. Their top batter so far this season has been Desirae Martinez, who went 5-for-13 with a home run and 4 RBI. Halyne went 1-3 as the pitcher to start the season with 15 strikeouts in 19.1 innings pitched.
  • UNF leads the overall series against the Wildcats, 18-5, with the last meeting being an 3-1 victory at home in 2018.

UNF-JU INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE (at UNF)

Friday
Cleveland State vs. Penn State - 2:30 p.m.
Cleveland State vs. UNF - 5 p.m.
Penn State vs. UNF - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday
Memphis vs Cleveland State - 2:30 p.m.
Memphis vs. UNF - 5 p.m.
Cleveland State vs. UNF - 7:30 p.m.

Sunday
Memphis vs. Penn State - 10 a.m.
Bethune-Cookman vs. UNF - 12:30 p.m.