Softball Gears Up for St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational

Tournament Central

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University softball team (3-2) will head to the other side of the state for the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, which is owned and operated by ESPN Events. FAU is one of 16 teams invited to the inaugural invitational with 11 of those teams being ranked in the most recent USA Today/NFCA Coaches and ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate top 25 polls. The Owls will be playing in five games against tough competition over the weekend at the Eddie C. Moore Complex. Each of the Owls' five opponents were ranked in the most recent top 25 polls.

The Owls will be facing No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 11/12 Texas, No. 19/22 Oregon, No. 23/25 James Madison and No. 1/2 Florida State. The Owls will get things started on Friday against Oklahoma at 10 a.m., followed by playing Texas at 12:30 p.m. Live stats for all of the games can be found here and Sunday's game against Florida State can be viewed on ESPN3.

Game Schedule

Day	Time	Opponent	Live Stats	Video/TV
Friday, Feb. 15	10 a.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma	Stats	N/A
	12:30 p.m.	No. 11/12 Texas	Stats	N/A
Saturday, Feb. 16	10 a.m.	No. 19/22 Oregon	Stats	N/A
	1 p.m.	No. 23/25 James Madison	Stats	N/A
Sunday, Feb. 17	4 p.m.	No. 1/2 Florida State	Stats	ESPN3

Game Notes

St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invite Game Notes

Eyeing the Competition
No. 3 Oklahoma (Friday at 10 a.m.)
All-time series: 2-2
Oklahoma softball, under direction of longtime coach Patty Gasso, has made 12 WCWS appearances and won four National Championships, with the last one coming in 2017. The Sooners finished last season 57-5 (18-0 in conference) and made it to the WCWS before losing to Washington. Oklahoma returns six starters and welcomes eight newcomers. Jocelyn Alo (UT), Giselle Juarez (P), Sydney Romero (IF) and Madi Sue Montgomery (IF) were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. The last time these two teams met was on February 13, 2010 and ended in a 9-0 victory for the Sooners.

No. 11/12 Texas (Friday at 12:30 p.m.)
All-time series: 1-0
Texas softball brought in a new coach in the offseason in Mike White, who had previously coached for the Oregon Ducks for nine seasons and brought along four transfers from his former team to Austin. The Longhorns finished 2018 at 33-26 (10-8 in conference) and made an appearance in the Seattle Regional, falling to Minnesota in three games. Texas returns eight positional starters and three starting pitchers and welcomes nine newcomers (five freshman and four transfers). Miranda Elish (P) and Janae Jefferson (IF) were on the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. The only time these two teams have squared off was in March of 1998, which resulted in a 5-2 victory for FAU on a neutral field.

No. 19/22 Oregon (Saturday at 10 a.m.)
All-time series: 1-2
Oregon softball is led under first-year head coach Melyssa Lombardi, who was with the Oklahoma staff for 21 seasons. Last season under direction of Head Coach White, Oregon finished the season 53-10 (21-3 in conference) and made an appearance in the 2018 WCWS, losing to Florida State. The team, which finished No. 1 in the final NFCA poll, returns five letterwinners and has welcomed 14 newbies. FAU and Oregon have met three other times with the last being in 2016 where the Ducks edged out the Owls, 6-5.

No. 23/25 James Madison (Saturday at 1 p.m.)
All-time series: 2-0
James Madison finished 43-14 (19-2 in conference) to win the CAA regular season championship and move on to the NCAA Knoxville Regional where they would go on to lose to Ohio. The Dukes are a young team, as they welcome eight freshmen to the squad, but have plenty of experience as well, as six starters from last season will be back under second-year Head Coach Loren LaPorte. Megan Good (P) was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. This will be the third meeting between the two teams with the last coming in 2007 when FAU pulled out a 2-1 victory at home.

No. 1/2 Florida State
All-time series: 7-11
The reigning 2018 National Champions, who finished 59-12 (21-3 in conference) were ranked No. 1 in the preseason NFCA poll. FSU welcomes back eight regular starters and two pitchers, as well as eight newcomers. Meghan King (P) and Sydney Sherrill (IF) were named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List. This will be the 19th matchup between the two teams with the last time being a 12-0 win for the Seminoles.

FAU "First Pitch" Classic Recap
The Owls got things started for opening weekend at home, as the host of the annual FAU "First Pitch" Classic. FAU lost its opener to No. 6/7 Georgia 4-1, but rallied in the second game against St. John's on a game-winning single by Samantha Lageyre in the bottom of the eighth inning. On day two, freshman Skylar Whitty pitched a complete game shutout in her first collegiate start against Virginia to elevate the Owls to a 1-0 victory. FAU would then fall to Indiana 4-1 with two of those runs being unearned. The Owls got the Sunday win in the tournament over Bethune-Cookman 6-3, after scoring all of its runs in the bottom on the first inning. FAU went 3-2 on the weekend to commence the 2019 season.

Social Media
For live updates during games and other FAU softball news, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball), Instagram (@Owls_softball) and Facebook.

Up Next
FAU will be back home the following weekend for the Strike Out Cancer Tournament when UConn and Florida Gulf Coast come to town. A tournament pass may be purchased for $20, which will allow fans to attend all of the games at the tournament. Fans have the option of receiving tickets through email or will-call. To purchase a tournament pass, visit the Ticketmaster pageor call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.

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