Kent State University
Fordham
Softball Back in Action at Duke Invitational
3/5/2020 12:19:00 PM | Softball
Kent State is back in action this weekend as they head to North Carolina to play four games as part of the Duke Invitational being held at Duke Softball Stadium.
The Golden Flashes (7-8) will play two games on Friday starting with a 12:00 p.m. showdown with Fordham. Friday will conclude with a contest against Lafayette at 5:00 p.m. Saturday will have an early start with a rematch from earlier this season as Kent State battles Howard at 9:30 a.m. It will conclude the invitational with a 2:30 p.m. contest against the host Blue Devils. All games will be broadcast online via the ACC Network Extra, available through the ESPN App.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 6
12:00 p.m. vs. Fordham
5:00 p.m. vs. Lafayette
Saturday, March 7
9:30 a.m. vs. Howard
2:30 p.m. at Duke
Scouting the Opposition
Fordham
· Fordham enters play this weekend with a record of 4-11 and a three-game winning streak.
· The Rams are led in the circle by Madie Aughinbaugh who leads the team with 39 strikeouts and has already picked up an Atlantic-10 Pitcher of the Week award this season. Aughinbaugh is 1-6 in nine appearance with a 3.53 ERA.
· Offensively, Fordham will turn to sophomore INF Sarah Taffet to generate runs. Taffet is the team leader in batting average (.313), slugging percentage (.479), and RBIs (8).
Lafayette
· Lafayette is 0-7 after being swept by Penn in a doubleheader on Wednesday.
· The Leopards have been outscored 65-14 and only gone past the fifth inning once.
· 3B/2B Natasha Miner leads the offense with six hits and a .316 batting average.
· OF/UTL Paige Grover has a team-high four RBIs.
Howard
· Howard is 2-16 entering play this weekend with wins against Morehead State and Mount St. Mary's
· The Bison are led by reigning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year Kalita Dennis, who is the team leader with a .400 batting average, 19 RBIs and three home runs.
· The Bison are led in the circle by Sydney Hixenbaugh (1-7), who has 18 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
Duke
· Duke enters improved to 17-4 on the season after sweeping USC Upstate in a doubleheader on Wednesday.
· The season has been highlighted by a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Texas on February 22.
· The Blue Devils' high-powered offense ranks in the top-20 nationally in runs per game (6.71) and slugging percentage (.531).
· OF Caroline Jacobsen ranks in the top-five in the country with nine home runs and 28 RBIs. Jacobsen is hitting .426 with nine multi-hit games.
· Four additional batters have double-digit RBIs.
· Duke's pitching staff ranks 13th in the country with a 1.75 team ERA. Junior Peyton St. George (7-2) leads the way with 52 strikeouts in 11 appearances.
Series History vs. Opponents
Kent State is 3-1 all-time against this weekend's tournament field with each contest being played over the past three seasons. The Flashes are 1-0 against Lafayette with the lone contest being a 11-3 final in 2018. Kent State beat Howard twice by a combined score of 17-2 during opening weekend earlier this season. Duke took advantage of three unearned runs in the first inning to beat the Flashes, 8-0, in 2018.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Norman, Oklahoma for five games as part of the OU Tournament hosted by Oklahoma from March 13-15.
