Softball starts 2020 campaign at Paradise Classic in Hawai'i

Thursday, February 6

Honolulu, Hawai'i

7:30 PM

University of Memphis

Iowa State

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Softball starts 2020 campaign at Paradise Classic in Hawai'i

Feb 05, 2020 | Softball

Live Stats

Five games are on tap, starting Thursday evening against Iowa State

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The wait is finally over for the University of Memphis softball team as the Tigers travel to Hawai'i for the 2020 season opening tournament at the Paradise Classic hosted by the University of Hawai'i. The Tigers will compete in five games, starting against Iowa State Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Live stats will be available for all five games of the tournament. After competing against Iowa State on Thursday, the Tigers will face Northern Colorado and Hawai'i on Friday. The tournament wraps up Saturday with two games of bracket play.

Game Details
Date: February 6-8, 2020
Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
Stadium: Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
Live Stats

Complete Schedule (all times CT)
Thursday, February 6, 2020
7:30 p.m. - Iowa State vs. Memphis
10:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. Northern Colorado

Friday, February 7, 2020
4:00 p.m. - Iowa State vs. Northern Colorado
6:30 p.m. - Memphis vs. Northern Colorado
9:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. Iowa State
11:00 p.m. - Hawai'i vs. Memphis

Saturday, February 8, 2020
2:00 p.m. - Bracket Gm1: Seed 2 vs. Seed 3
4:00 p.m. - Bracket Gm2: Seed 1 vs. Seed 4
6:00 p.m. - Bracket Gm3: Loser Gm1 vs. Loser Gm2
8:00 p.m. - Bracket Gm4: Winner Gm1 vs. Winner Gm2

Memphis Notes
The Tigers return 17 players from a year ago, including all-conference players Baylee Smith and Alyssa Dean. Smith led Memphis offensively in 2019, hitting .338 with 53 hits, 11 doubles and seven home runs. Smith has garnered all-conference attention as both a freshman and a sophomore and enters this season with a career batting average of .356.

In the circle, Memphis returns three pitchers in Kailey Hilderbrand, Mariah Nichols and Karli Perque. Nichols finished last season with four saves and is the career saves leader with seven at Memphis. The trio of Hilderbrand, Nichols and Perque combined for over 250 innings including Nichols' team-leading 135.0 innings in the circle. Memphis combined for seven shutouts and 234 strikeouts in 2019.

Memphis loses just two every day starters in the field in Regan Hadley and Ashley Threatt. Hadley started in over 200 games for Memphis while Threatt averaged over .300 for her two-year. Last season, Threatt was a First Team All-AAC selection. In the circle, Memphis lost Bayleigh Wisher to graduation. Wisher finished the 2019 campaign with a 6-2 overall record in a career-high 85.0 innings pitched.

The Tigers welcome eight newcomers to this year's roster. Memphis is under the direction of head coach Natalie Poole, who enters her ninth season at the helm. In 2019, Poole won her 500^thcareer game in a 5-4 thriller against DePaul at home.

Final Details
First pitch Thursday evening is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT against Iowa State. Fans can follow the team in Hawai'i on live stats at hawaii.statbroadcast.com. For more information on the Memphis softball team, follow the Tigers on social media at @MemphisSoftball.