FAU Softball Opens Up 26th Season with Annual First Pitch Classic

FAU First Pitch Classic
Tournament Details	Feb. 7-9, 2020 \| FAU Softball Stadium \| Boca Raton, Fla. Tournament Central
Game Coverage	Live Stats Live Stream (FAU games): vs. Wisconsin \| vs. Indiana State \| vs. NIU vs. Purdue 1 \| vs. Purdue 2 Twitter: @fauowlssoftball Instagram: @Owls_softball
Florida Atlantic Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Wisconsin Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule
Indiana State Links	Notes \| News \| Roster \| Schedule
Northern Illinois Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule
Purdue Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule
Bethune-Cookman Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University softball team will begin the 2020 season by hosting the annual FAU First Pitch Classic this weekend. FAU will play host to Wisconsin, Indiana State, Northern Illinois, Purdue and Bethune-Cookman, while playing five games to kick off opening weekend.

Season Preview Video

About the Owls

The FAU softball program is in its 26th season all under direction of head coach Joan Joyce, who is seeking her 1,000 career win this year
FAU was projected to finish eighth in Conference USA, as chosen by the league's head coaches
Fayth Davis (OF) was picked to the C-USA Preseason Team after finishing the year batting .389 (.400 C-USA), which was the third best in the conference and the best among outfielders in the league. She also tallied 15 doubles and two homeruns in her redshirt sophomore season
FAU is looking to improve upon a 20-30 (7-17 C-USA) season in 2019. The Owls missed the conference tournament for the first time
The team welcomes 12 newcomers, as well as brings back 11 players and four everyday starters
FAU has 12 conference championships and has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances with the last one taking place in 2016

FAU Game Schedule

Day	Time	Opponent	Live Stats	Video
Friday, Feb. 7	6 p.m.	Wisconsin	Stats	Video
	8:15 p.m.	Indiana State	Stats	Video
Saturday, Feb. 8	6 p.m.	Northern Illinois	Stats	Video
	8:15 p.m.	Purdue	Stats	Video
Sunday, Feb. 9	1:30 p.m.	Purdue	Stats	Video

Game Notes

FAU First Pitch Classic Game Notes

Eyeing the Competition

Wisconsin (Friday at 6 p.m.)
All-time series: 4-2, FAU leads

Friday will be the seventh meeting between the Owls and Badgers
FAU has won four out of the last five matchups, which have all been played in Boca Raton
The last time FAU and Wisconsin played one another was in 2005 in a doubleheader. The Badgers won the first game, 4-3 in 10 innings and FAU bounced back in the second game to win, 2-1

About the Badgers

The No. 25/23 Wisconsin Badgers are coming off a 43-14 season (15-8 B10), which included an NCAA Tournament berth and one of the best showings in Wisconsin softball history
Wisconsin played at the Norman Regional and forced a game seven against the Sooners after stunning them, 2-1. The Badgers would fall 2-0 in the final to be eliminated
The Badgers' leading returner is Kayla Konwent, who batted .459 with 21 doubles, 15 homers and 53 RBI. In the circle, Wisconsin returns all pitchers who saw time on the field last season. Kaitlyn Menz (21-9) pitched 164.1 innings with a 2.13 ERA and 109 strikeouts last year

Indiana State (Friday at 8:15 p.m.)
All-time series: 2-0, FAU leads

The Owls will play the Sycamores for the third time in the series, as well as the first time in nearly 22 years
FAU leads in the series, 2-0 in games that have both been played on neutral sites
In the last meeting on March 6, 1998, the Owls beat the Sycamores 9-0 in five innings at the USF Speedline Invitational in Tampa

About the Sycamores

The Sycamores are coming off a 19-35 season (5-21 MVC)
Indiana State upset Loyola and Missouri State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, but could not get past Bradley after a 4-0 loss
Senior Leslie Sims is coming off a season where she batted .400 along with 72 hits and 50 runs. Gabbi Schnaiter is the leading pitcher after going 9-14 last season with a 3.87 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 139.1 innings pitched

Northern Illinois (Saturday at 6 p.m.)
All-time series: 2-3, NIU leads

The Owls will face the Huskies for the sixth time in the series on Saturday
FAU has won the last two games after dropping the first three
The Owls played the Huskies twice in 2016 at the FAU Strikeout Cancer Tournament, where FAU captured their first two wins ever over the squad. In the first game, the Owls won 8-0 in five innings and followed up that dominating performance with a 6-2 win for the sweep

About the Huskies

The Huskies finished last season 27-25 (11-9 MAC), falling to Toledo, 11-6, in the Mid-American Conference Tournament
Northern Illinois is coached by Chris Sutcliffe, who is a member of the FAU Hall of Fame and is a FAU softball alumnae (1997-2001)
Katie Keller led the team with a .424 batting average along with 56 hits and 26 RBI during her freshman season. Mackenzie Bryan returns to the circle after a 15-14 season, where she tallied a 2.98 ERA and 127 strikeouts over 169.1 innings pitched

Purdue (Sunday at 8:15 p.m. & Sunday at 1:30 p.m.)
All-time series: 6-3, FAU leads

The Purdue and FAU series has gone the Owls' way the last five times, as FAU has won the last five meetings
FAU will play Purdue for the third consecutive year and 10th and 11th time in the series
The Boilermakers came down to FAU for the Parents Weekend Tournament last year, as the Owls won in a 4-0 shutout

About the Boilermakers

The Boilermakers finished 2019 at 34-29 (6-17 B10) and made a trip to the National Invitational Softball Championships, which ended in a 5-3 loss against Iowa State in the NISC Regional Championship
Rachel Becker is the leading returner at the plate, finishing last season batting .354 with 67 hits, 48 runs scored and 12 RBI. Sydney Bates got a lot of work done in the circle last season, ending the year with a 13-9 record, 4.52 ERA and 130 strikeouts

2019 Recap

The Owls rounded out the league in 11th, just missing out on a berth to the C-USA Tournament with a 20-30 (7-17 C-USA) record
FAU endured one of the toughest schedules in program history, facing 11 teams that were ranked in the top 25 or received votes at one point of the season
The Owls are led by returner Fayth Davis, who came alive in the latter part of the season, finishing the year with a .389 batting average
In the circle, the Owls return Abigail Morgan (3.15 ERA) and Kara Lokeinsky (4.28 ERA)
Samantha Lageyre (IF), Mia Olson (DP/UT) and Davis (OF) tallied All-Conference Second Team honors, while Skylar Whitty made the All-Freshman Team
Madisyn Palmer, the school record holder in single season (48) and career stolen bases (164) has since graduated and captured NFCA All-Region Third Team honors during her senior year. Olson (P/DP) was also named to the Third Team All-Region

Up Next

FAU will head to Orlando for the UCF Knights Classic next weekend. The Owls will be back home to host the 2020 FAU Strikeout Cancer Tournament from Feb. 21-23. To purchase tickets, visit the Ticketmaster page or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.

Follow the Owls

For live updates during all of the Owls' games and for other FAU softball news, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball, Instagram (@Owls_softball) and Facebook.

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