Softball Opens 2017 Season In Miami

Friday, February 10

Miami, Fla.

12:30 PM

University of Memphis

Georgetown

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 09, 2017 | Softball

Live Stats

The Tigers will compete in five games at the Felsberg Invitational hosted by Florida International

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The wait is over as the University of Memphis softball team opens the season up Friday at the Felsberg Invitational hosted by Florida International. Memphis will compete in five games over the course of three days with two games against Georgetown and three against FIU.

Seton Hall and Rutgers were originally in the mix of teams scheduled to be at the tournament, but weather in the Northeast prevented the two squads from making it down to Miami.

Updated Memphis' Tournament Schedule (Live Stats)
February 10 – Memphis vs. Georgetown at 12:30 p.m. CT
February 10 – Memphis vs. FIU at 3:00 p.m. CT
February 11 – Memphis vs. Georgetown at 12:30 p.m. CT
February 11 – Memphis vs. FIU at 3:00 p.m. CT
February 12 – Memphis vs. FIU at 8:30 a.m. CT

Quick Hitters

Memphis returns all but one of its starters from the 2016 season. Lindsay Crowdus, Lindsey Stickrod, and Kyler Trosclair return as the top three hitters from last year.
Hannah Harrell also returns to the line as a redshirt-senior. Harrell set the program record for stolen bases in a season in 2016 with 27. Trosclair had the second-highest total ever with 23.
Harrell comes into the season just eight swipes shy of matching the all-time record of 57 set by Leandra Hines.
In the circle, the Tigers return Molly Smith who led the Tigers last year with a 2.91 ERA and 11-16 overall record.
Memphis welcomes five freshmen to its roster in Sara Ann Davidson, Ashten Graves, Rebeca Melton, Erin Parker, and Xiomara Santiago.
Memphis was picked to finish fifth in the American Athletic Conference standings as voted on by the conference's head coaches.
In the 12^th year of existence of Memphis softball, this will be the first time that the Tigers and the Hoyas have faced off. FIU and Memphis have played four games against each other with the series even at 2-2. Memphis has competed at the FIU's tournament the last two seasons.
Head coach Natalie Poole is in her sixth season at the helm of the Tiger program.

About Florida International

The Panthers finished 29-27 in 2016, including 18 home victories, and return Preseason All-Conference performer and senior first baseman Stephanie Texeira.
The former All-South Region and 2014 Conference USA Freshman of the Year is on pace to break the school records for home runs, RBI, walks, slugging percentage and batting average early in her final campaign.
The Panthers finished last season with a team batting average of .325, a mark that led Conference USA while striking out a league-low 185 times.
A young pitching staff (third-best 3.12 ERA with two freshmen in the rotation) is one year wiser and added High-School All-American Shannon Saile (2016: 18 wins, 0.78 earned run average and 269 strikeouts) to its ranks.

About Georgetown

Georgetown is looking to improve off of the 2016 season that saw the team finish 9-35 overall.
This is the 12th season on the Hilltop for the Hoyas, under coach Pat Conlan.
This year's roster includes nine returners and eight freshmen student-athletes. The Hoyas will be led on the field by senior Gabriela Elvina, junior Theresa Kane and sophomore Mallory Belknap.
Kane and Belknap were two of four players last season to hit over .300 for Georgetown. Kane led the team with 45 hits.
Elvina hit .280 last season with 42 starts for the Hoyas. She hit three home runs with 33 total hits.

Final Details
First pitch against Georgetown on Friday afternoon is set for 12:30 p.m. CT in Miami, Fla. The Tigers will compete against Georgetown once on Friday and once on Saturday while facing off against FIU three times over the course of the weekend. Live stats for the games will be available at www.gotigersgo.com. For more information on the Memphis softball team, follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @MemphisSoftball.