MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – With the season officially in full swing, the University of Central Arkansas softball program will head to the Sunshine State for its second tournament of the season in the Madeira Beach Invitational. The Bears will tackle five opponents in the three-day event in hopes of carrying over some success from last week's 3-1 finish at the Black and Gold Invitational.
The Bears will play 4:30 p.m., Friday against George Mason and will turn around and play Monmouth immediately after at 7 p.m. Saturday morning, UCA will take on Ball State at 11:30 a.m. and Quinnipiac at 4:30 p.m. Central Arkansas will conclude the tournament with a 9 a.m., Sunday-morning bout with South Dakota.
Central Arkansas (3-2) is coming off a tough 7-6 loss to Lyon College. The Bears will need to sure up their defense over the weekend, having committed nine errors through the first five games.
MEET THE OPPONENTS
GEORGE MASON
George Mason (0-3) has struggled out of the gate but have also played some of the top competition around the country. The Patriots competed in the Friends of Jaclyn Tournament in Orlando, Fla. this past weekend where they fell to Ohio State 7-0, Ole Miss 8-0 and UCF 7-0. They were scheduled to play additional games against Minnesota and North Florida but those contests were canceled.
Jess Curbeira is the Patriots leading bat coming into the tournament with a .429 BA. She has a team-leading three hits, two of which are doubles. Bekah Ansbro (0-1) has been the most efficient George Mason pitcher in the circle. She comes into the weekend with a 5.60 ERA with six strikeouts.
MONMOUTH
The Hawks are one of the few teams in the country that did not play during opening weekend. Monmouth (0-0) will open its season with Ball State before squaring off with UCA Friday night.
Junior Amber Wozaniak is the leading offensive returner for a Hawks squad that posted a 32-16 record in 2018. She hit .311 with 13 doubles, three triples and seven home runs. The San Diego, Calif. native drove in a team-high 36 runs for Monmouth. In the circle, junior Megan Stauffer leads the way for the Hawks. She posted a 7-4 record last season that included a 3.61 ERA and 20 strikeouts.
BALL STATE
The Cardinals opened their 2019 campaign with five games at the FGCU Kickoff Classic this past weekend. Ball State (3-2) picked up a signature win over Big Ten-foe Penn State while also defeating LIU Brooklyn and host-FGCU.
Sarah Venker has been lights on in the circle for the Cardinals. She is 2-0 and has not allowed an earned run over 8.1 innings pitched. Darcie Huber has been equally as impressive. She has tossed 8.0 scoreless innings and struck out eight in two appearances. Stacy Payton is perhaps the most consistent bat in the Ball State lineup. She is batting .231 with two RBIs in the early going this season.
QUNNIPIAC
The Bobcats will also begin their season this weekend after having sit out the opening few days of the 2019. Senior Erin Larsen will be a force to be reckoned with at the plate when the Bears square off with Quinnipiac on Saturday. She hit .345 with a 1.072 OPS having belted eight homers and drove in 29 runs in 2018.
The Bobcats were 22-29 last season, but will have to replace their top pitcher in Casey Herzog from a year ago. Kendall Brundrett is the top hurler back for the Bobcats after posting a 4-9 record with a 5.34 ERA last year.
SOUTH DAKOTA
The Coyotes posted the best start this past weekend of any team in the field. South Dakota (4-1) defeated Charleston Southern twice, Dayton and Maryland Eastern Shore en route to a four-win weekend at the CSU Classic.
Jamie Holscher leads the way for the Coyote offense. She is hitting a blistering .600 with nine hits and 5 RBIs so far. Dustie Durham is batting .500 but has tallied a team-best nine RBIs for South Dakota. Durham also doubles as the Coyotes best pitcher. She has a 3-1 record with a 1.98 ERA and eight strikeouts in four appearances.
BEAR TO WATCH
After belting her first home run of the season on Tuesday, junior Cylla Hill is now batting an incredible .615 through five games. The Henryette, Okla. native has eight hits in 13 at-bats, including two doubles and a team-high seven RBIs.
Hill leads an offense that is batting .331 as a team, having hit four early homers and 12 total extra-base hits. Look for the junior to continue her hot start and help lead the Bears to a successful stay in sunny Florida.
FOLLOW ALONG/SOCIAL MEDIA
Live stats will be available for all five UCA contests. The live stats for all five games can be accessed by following the link at the top of the page. Be sure to follow UCA Softball on Twitter for in-game updates @UCASoftball or @UCAScoreboard.
