FIRST PITCH
Hofstra is set to travel to the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational to open up the 2019 season. The Pride will play a total of four games in the Sunshine State, beginning with No. 18/21 Kentucky on Friday, Feb. 15 at 9:30 am. A day later, Hofstra will take on No. 3/3 Oklahoma at 10:00 am and No. 20/17 Oklahoma State at 4:00 pm, before closing out the trip with a single game against Utah on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 pm. All contests will take place at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla. 

GETCHA' TICKETS!
Tickets are available for purchase on the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational website. The link to purchase tickets can be found at the top of this article and on the Hofstra Softball schedule page. Tickets cost $20 per day for adults and $15 per day for children and are valid for one day at a time. Tournament passes are available for $75 each for adults and $50 for children. 

HOW TO WATCH
Live statistics will be available for all four games. The links to live statistics can all be found at the top of this article and on the Hofstra Softball schedule page. In addition, the Oklahoma and Utah games will be broadcasted live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. There will be no live video available for the Kentucky and Oklahoma State games.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Kentucky:
- The Pride and Wildcats are set to meet for the first time in program history.

Oklahoma:
- Hofstra and Oklahoma are slated to meet for just the second time in the Pride's 68 seasons.
- The last time the two teams faced each other was during the 1996 season when the Pride defeated No. 9 Oklahoma, 1-0.

Oklahoma State:
- The Cowgirls and the Pride will meet for the eighth time in Hofstra program history.
- Oklahoma State leads the series, 4-3.
- The two teams met twice during the 2010 season at NCAA Regionals in Tuscon, Ariz. Hofstra defeated the Cowgirls, 8-6 on Friday, May 21 and went on  to eliminate Oklahoma State from the NCAA Tournament on May 22 when Hofstra won, 5-2.

Utah:
- Hofstra and Utah will meet for the second time in Hofstra history. 
- The last time the two teams met was in the 1996 season when the Utes won, 3-0.

ABOUT THE HOFSTRA PRIDE
With one of the youngest rosters in all of NCAA Division I, the Hofstra Softball team (RV) enters the 2019 season with almost a completely new look. The Pride welcome back just two returning starters and a few additional returning players while also adding 12 newcomers to the roster. The Pride, ranked No. 24 nationally in the final NFCA Coaches Poll of 2018, concluded the season with an overall mark of 41-14 (.745), marking the 29th-straight season with a winning percentage over .500. The team also finished 17-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association and captured the Program's 12th CAA title and first since 2015. 

Junior Kristin Hallam returns to the Pride as the most experienced infielder in the Hofstra lineup, having started and played all 55 games at shortstop last year. An NFCA All-Region Third Team Selection last year, Hallam recorded a .315 batting average with 63 hits which tied for a team-high. Eyeing time at second base is senior Courtney Scarpato, an NFCA All-Region Third Team pick who spent most of last season at center field. In 2018, Scarpato hit .299 while scattering 41 hits, eight home runs and ranked third on the team with 36 RBI, the most of any returner. Junior transfer Alexa Corben will also work at shortstop and second base after spending two years at the University of Albany. 

Newcomers will look to fill the corner infield positions for Hofstra. At first base, freshman Angelina Ioppolo will receive time, as she joins the Pride from Wallenpaupack Area High School in Newfoundland, Pa., where she was a Class 5A Second Team All-State Selection in 2018. Competing for time at third base are freshmen Meghan Giordano and Kasey Collins who both have illustrious high school careers. Giordano, the two-time NYSPHSAA Section 1 Player of the Year, finished her career at Croton Harmon High School as the league's career home run record holder with 56 home runs. In addition, she tied for first at the conclusion of her career in batting average for the same association at a .695 clip. 

The Pride's outfield will also have a bit of a new look this season, however redshirt-senior Lydia Witkowski does have experience at center field with 11 starts in that position last year. Witkowski will provide speed both in the outfield and on the base paths and looks to be a quality hitter in the lineup. Also vying time in the outfield is sophomore Imani Myint and freshman Jaycee Ruberti. Last season, Myint made one start in right field with 30 total appearances on the diamond. Ruberti, a three-time Virginia State Champion at Greenbrier Christian Academy, will also add speed in the outfield and can also hit for power and average. In addition, junior Alexis Goeke and freshman Amanda Maffucci will also help boost the outfield, with Goeke serving as a versatile player who has the ability to be a big bat in the middle of the line-up. 

Two freshman look to take over the circle this year, including Madison Burns and Mackenzie Suto. Burns comes to Hempstead from East Greenbush, N.Y., where she was named to the Times Union All-Star First Team for five-straight years. In addition, Suto, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., played four years of varsity softball at St. Mary's High School where she was named to the All-Catholic team twice in her career. 

Doing a bulk of the catching this season will be Devyn Losco who appeared in 21 games last season. In addition, Giordano, as well as freshman Lyndsey Shaw will be options behind the plate. Shaw, who comes to Hofstra with a long list of accolades including an All-America nod her senior year, compiled a .580 average during her six-year career of varsity of softball in the Sayville school district with 228 hits, 44 doubles, 23 triples, 30 home runs, and 244 RBI.

ABOUT THE NO. 18/21 KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Hofstra will open the season up against the Kentucky Wildcats (2-3) on Friday, February 15 at 9:30 am. The Wildcats were ranked inside the top 15 of both major national polls to begin the 2019 season. Kentucky was slotted as the No. 13 team in the country in the NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll and 15th in the USA Softball/ESPN.com top 25 in the initial poll, however dropped five spots in the coaches poll this week after starting the season off with a 2-3 mark. Through Kentucky's first five games, Kayla Kowalik leads the team in batting average (.500) as she has six hits that include one double and one triple. Alex Martens (.429) leads the squad in RBI with six. Meghan Schorman, Autumn Humes, and Grace Baalman have all seen time inside the circle and have posted a team ERA of 2.57 thus far.

Katie Reed was named to the 2019 USA Softball National Player of the Year watch list and is a .340 career hitter at Kentucky with more than 100 runs scored, 187 hits, 25 doubles, 12 home runs, and 75 RBI. In addition to Baalman and Humes, third baseman Abbey Cheek, catcher Jenny Schaper all return to the Wildcats. Cheek, a sophomore captain for the Wildcats, currently has 41 career home runs which ranks second all-time at Kentucky. Humes is back in the circle after she threw a no-hitter in her first career start against North Dakota State and earned three-top 10 wins on the rubber last season.

ABOUT THE NO. 3/3 OKLAHOMA SOONERS
Hofstra will continue its trip against the No. 3/3 Oklahoma Sooners at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 16. The Sooners got off to a perfect 5-0 start to their 2019 campaign. Through Oklahoma's first five contests, Jocelyn Alo is the team's leader in batting average (.571) with a team-high eight hits. Raegan Rogers has provided power for the Sooners behind the plate with two home runs and a team-high seven RBI. Mariah Lopez, Shannon Saile, and Giselle Juarez have all made at last two appearances in the circle this season, allowing only two earned runs as a staff through 29.0 innings pitched (0.48 ERA). Prior to the start of the season, three members of the team were named to the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year watch list, including senior infielder Sydney Romero, junior left-handed pitcher Giselle Juarez and sophomore utility player Jocelyn Alo.

The seven-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma Sooners entered the 2019 fourth in two national polls, including the USA Today/NFCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll and the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Preseason top 25. Oklahoma's No. 4 spot in the NFCA Poll marked the ninth-straight year that the Sooners have started in the NFCA's top-10, good for the nation's longest active streak. The Sooners were also picked to win the Big 12 for what would be an eighth consecutive regular season conference title.

ABOUT THE NO. 20/17 OKLAHOMA STATE COWGIRLS
After the Oklahoma game, Hofstra will meet Oklahoma State (4-1) at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Through the Cowgirls' first five games, Sydney Springfield leads the team at the plate with a .462 batting average that includes six hits, two doubles and two home runs. Texas A&M transfer Samantha Show leads the team in RBI with eight and is tied for first with two home runs, has also been the Cowgirls' most used option inside the circle with 13.0 innings pitched and a 4.85 ERA. Samantha Clakey has also tossed 9.0 innings thus far and has yet to surrender an earned run.

The Cowgirls are coming off a 39-22 season in which the Cowgirls made their third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This season, several key players return to the roster, including a trio of seniors in Rylee Bayless, Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery. Also returning to the lineup is Sydney Pennington, Samantha Clakley and pitcher Logan Simunek. Montgomery was one of 50 student athletes named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2019 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year. Montgomery's 2018 campaign saw her hit 15 home runs to break the 10-year-old OSU single-season home run record. She also drove in 68 runs, ranking sixth nationally, second on the Big 12 and falling just three shy of the Oklahoma State record.

ABOUT THE UTAH UTES
Hofstra is scheduled to close out its trip to the Sunshine State against Utah (RV) on Sunday, Februray 17 at 1 p.m. Utah, who is receiving votes in this week's USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll, was selected to finish seventh in the Pac-12 Conference Preseason Poll. This year, the Utes feature a pair of NFCA All-Region selections, including Alyssa Barrera, Hailey Hilburn, and Pac-12 All-Freshman honoree Julia Noskin. This season, Makayla Hurst is leading the Utes at the plate with a .571 batting average. Noskin has scattered a team-high eight hits, good for a .421 batting average on the season. Hilburn and Sydney Sandez are the go-to options in the circle for the Utes, combining for 32.0 innings pitched out of 34.0. Hilburn boasts a 1.62 ERA thus far while Sandez owns a 2.21 earned run average.

UP NEXT
After the St. Peter Clearwater Elite Invitational, Hofstra will travel to Mobile, Ala. for the Marti Gras Invitational February 22-24. The Pride will play a total of five games down south, all set to take place at Jaguar Field on the campus of South Alabama. The Pride will open up the trip on February 22 against Nicholls State and Illinois, before meeting Nicholls State again and South Alabama on February 23. The Pride will close out the trip against Stephen F. Austin on February 24.