On Friday, Feb. 14, the UConn softball team is set to travel to Jacksonville to embark on their second series of the season. The invitational is co-hosted by Jacksonville University and University of North Florida, consisting of five games over the course of three days. The Huskies will take on Middle Tennessee State, North Florida, Jacksonville and Cleveland State.
Last weekend, the Huskies started off their spring season at the Elon Softball Classic in North Carolina. The team had a rough start to the series with a 14-18 loss to Ohio. They bounced back with an 8-2 win against Elon University in their second game. However, they stumbled in their third game with a 15-6 loss against UNC Greensboro. They were not able to bring back their momentum in the fourth game, losing 3-1 to Ohio State. They finished the series with a 1-3 record. The team will hope to improve and gain momentum in their invitational this weekend.
The Huskies have an impressive lineup this season. One key player is junior catcher Grace Jenkins, who was named on the Big East Honor Roll this week. Jenkins performed impressively at the Elon Softball Classic and proved to be a powerful force along with her twin sister, junior Hope Jenkins. The duo started the classic off strong with H. Jenkins’ drive-in allowing G. Jenkins to have the first run of the season. The duo will be a powerful force for the Huskies this Invitational. Â
Middle Tennessee State has started the season off with a 3-2 record. The team also started off their spring season last weekend with games against Louisville, Rutgers, Radford and Cleveland State. They lost their first game 11-3 against Louisville. They then bounced back with an 8-1 win over Rutgers. They did not maintain this momentum against Radford, losing 3-2. However, they were able to bring the momentum back to gain wins in the last two games against Cleveland State and Radford.
North Florida has started their season off strong with a 6-2 record. They started the season off with a tough 0-8 loss to the University of Florida. However, they were able to collect a series of wins against Western Carolina, Jacksonville State and Bethune-Cookman. The Huskies last competed against North Florida in the 2016 season, winning 4-0. The team will hope to bring the same kind of dominance this season.
Jacksonville has had a shaky start to the season with a 4-2 record. They picked up wins against Jacksonville State and Western Carolina; however, they fell to Florida, Western Carolina and Jacksonville. They last competed against the Huskies in a home game in the 2018 season. The Huskies came away with a dominant win 7-0. The Huskies will hope to bring the same momentum to this season.
Cleveland State has also had a rough start to the season with a 4-1 season. They picked up a 7-1 win against Radford; however, they fell to Rutgers, Liberty, Middle Tennessee State, Louisville and Seminole State College of Florida. They last matched up against the Huskies last season. The Huskies dominated winning 8-3 and have won three out of four of the games against Cleaveland State over the past seasons. The team will look to continue their winning streak against Cleaveland State.
The first game of the invitational takes place on Friday at 9 a.m. Their second game is just a few hours later at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, the squad is set to play two more games at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The Huskies will wrap up the invitational with a 10 a.m. game on Sunday.