GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota softball team will be in Florida this week, continuing its season with seven games in the Sunshine State. First, the Fighting Hawks will being the FIU Classic on Friday Morning against Illinois-Chicago and then take on Seton Hall that afternoon. Saturday the team will play the host team, Florida International, along with a playoff game at a time and opponent TBA and then a playoff game on Sunday, time and opponent TBA.
Tuesday the team will play Southern Indiana at Madeira Beach and then at Bethune-Cookman University on Wednesday.
Coming into the weekend, Izzy Haslett leads the green and white with a .293 batting average and is tied with Mariah Peters for the team lead in hits with 12. Cassie Castaneda and Madison Pederson are tied for the team lead with two doubles, and Pederson leads the team with two home runs and ten RBIs. Pederson also leads the team in slugging at .531 and OPS at .882. Katie Joten has stolen four bases in four attempts, half of the team's eight steals this season.
In the circle Jackie Albrecht leads the team with a 3.15 ERA, and has started seven games this season. She leads with 33.1 innings pitched, trailed closely by Makaela Carr and Camryn Lasota who have each thrown 31.2 innings. Albrecht is currently fourth in the Summit League with 34 strikeouts.
Here's how each of this week's opponents have fared so far in 2024:
Illinois-Chicago (4-11)
The Flames are coming off a weekend at the T-Mobile Tournament at the University of Florida in which they played five games, winning twice against Lafayette and once in two meetings against Colgate. Their first win game against Hofstra the weekend before.
Carlee Jo Clark leads the team with six runs scored and six RBIs. She has the team's lone home run so far this season and is hitting .283. Grace Fleming leads the team with a .333 batting average and with 15 hits and three stolen bases.
Alyssa McIntosh leads the staff with a 1.93 ERA in 29 innings pitched.
Seton Hall (3-6)
The Pirates have picked up three wins so far this season—defeating Utah Valley, New Mexico State and Maine in tournaments at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton and the Sun Devil/GCU Classic in Arizona.
Caroline Hobbes leads the team with a .364 average and is second with a .440 on base percentage. Taylor Hill leads the team with two home runs and is batting .333. She and Lena Allen lead the team with nine hits.
The staff is led by Kyra Kreuscher with an ERA of 2.15 and 2-0 record. Kelsey Carr has started four games in the circle and is batting .304.
Florida International (8-10)
The Panthers swept a doubleheader against Charleston Southern last Saturday before falling to Florida Atlantic in a midweek game. The team also has victories over Rutgers, Army, North Florida, Stony Brook and Southeast Missouri State this season.
Coming into the weekend Collier Peaden and Makayla Navarro are both batting over .400, the former at .414 and the latter at .400 even. Peaden leads the team with eight runs scored and 24 hits. Bailey Grossenbacher leads the team with two home runs and 11 RBIs.
Jewelle Vanderkous leads the staff with a 2.84 ERA and has a 2-1 record with two complete games. Sydney Birling has also made four starts this season and holds an ERA of 2.96.
Southern Indiana (3-7)
During opening weekend at the Easton Bama Bash the team got its first win of the year over Summit League member St. Thomas, and also played close games against Virginia and #11 Alabama. The next weekend at the Cocky Classic the team got wins over Southern Miss and Jacksonville State.
Caroline Stapleton leads the team with a .500 batting average this season, with a team high ten hits in 20 at bats. She has scored a team high five runs and is slugging .600. Sammie Kihega leads the team with seven RBI and has one of the team's two home runs.
Josie Newman leads the staff with a 3-3 record and 3.41 ERA. All six of her starts she has thrown complete games and has thrown 39 of the team's 62 innings pitched.
Bethune-Cookman (1-13)
The Wildcats defeated Illinois State in their season opener 3-2 in nine innings but since then have found themselves on the losing end of 13 straight games.
Thais Uyema leads the team with a .267 batting average, .300 slugging percentage and .689 OPS, while Jessica Alaan leads with nine hits, 12 total bases and three doubles. Alaan and Briana Velasquez are tied for the team lead with four runs scored.
Angelina Badalament leads the team with 4.20 ERA while Halyne Gonzalez has started a team high nine games with four complete games. Gonzalez has thrown 50.1 of 84.2 innings pitched this season.
For more information on North Dakota softball, follow us on social media @UNDsoftball and visit fightinghawks.com.
