March 5, 2008

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Kennesaw State softball team will be spending its spring break in Florida this weekend as the Owls take part in the Under Armour Invitational hosted by the University of South Florida.

Competition begins on Thursday at noon with KSU taking on Sam Houston State, followed by a 5:00 p.m. game against Quinnipiac. Friday sees the Owls take Syracuse at noon and Indiana at 2:30, before closing out pool play on Saturday at noon against Fairfield. Bracket play is scheduled to begin early Sunday based on each team's pool play record.

Freshman third baseman/pitcher Jessica Cross will look to continue her hot bat, which produced six hits and six RBI at the Georgia State Spring Showdown last weekend. She leads the Owls and is sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 19 RBI through the first 19 games and her six homeruns are tops on the squad and fifth-best in the league.

Senior pitcher Brittany Matthews was awarded her second A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honor after going 3-0 last week. The Brooks, Ga., product started the week by striking out 16 batters in KSU's 5-3 win at Jacksonville State, before turning around and fanning 13 Evansville batters in the first game of the Spring Showdown. Matthews recorded 40 strikeouts last week to bring her league-leading total to 123.

Sam Houston State (10-6) enters this weekend's tournament fresh off a three-game sweep of Northwestern State last weekend in Natchitoches, La. Mandy Huckabee leads the Bearkats with a .440 batting average, while Whitney Wilson has paced the team with 18 RBI.

Quinnipiac (4-4) split its four games in last weekend's George Mason Invitational. The Bobcats dropped the first two contests to Niagra and Cornell before responding to down the host Patriots and Princeton. Sophomore Jamie Iaquinto is the reigning Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week after moving to 3-1 on the season with a pair of wins in last week's play.

The Syracuse Orange (0-13) are still in search of their first win after dropping all five games at the NFCA Lead-Off Classic in Columbus, Ga. a week ago. SU was out-scored 32-6 on the weekend against some of the best teams in the nation in Mississippi State, Nebraska and Auburn. Rachel Tilford leads the Syracuse offense with a .237 batting average and four RBI.

Indiana (1-8) travels to Florida as losers of their last four after going winless at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. After the offense struggled in the first three games against Connecticut, Eastern Illinois and Chattanooga, the Hoosiers showed signs of life in their final match-up with Kentucky, before falling late in the game. Jennilee Huddleston, a native of Peachtree City, Ga., has led the Cream and Crimson so far this season with a .370 batting average, one homer and four RBI.

Fairfield (2-5) enters the Under Armour Invitational on the heels of their second win of the season, a 13-5 triumph over Holy Cross in Kissimmee, Fla. Prior to that, they had lost five in a row after earning a season-opening win against Detroit-Mercy. Meghan Borst drove in a run in each of the first two games and Kelli Panter threw a complete game in her Stags debut against Detroit-Mercy, allowing one run and striking out seven.

After this weekend's tournament, the Owls will return to the friendly confines of Bailey Park for the first time in more than a month when they play host to Georgia Tech on March 12. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.