FIRST PITCH
The Pride will next travel to the Peach State to take on a trio of opponents, including Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State in the I-75 Challenge. Hofstra will open up on Friday with a doubleheader at Kennesaw State (2 p.m.), will continue with a doubleheader against Georgia Tech (1 p.m.) and will conclude the trip with a single game against Georgia State (1 p.m.).

Hofstra is coming off a 1-3 trip at the Mardi Gras Invitational, where the Pride earned its first victory of the season over Nicholls State. Freshman Mackenzie Suto earned her first collegiate win in the circle and pitched a complete game while only allowing three hits.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• Hofstra leads the all-time series against Kennesaw State, 1-0. The last time the two teams met was last season on February 16 when Hofstra won, 8-0 in five innings.
• The series is tied, 2-2 between Hofstra and Georgia Tech. The last meeting between the two teams came on March 1, 2008 when Georgia Tech won, 7-2.
• Former CAA opponent Georgia State trails the all-time series with Hofstra, 28-11. The last meeting between the Panthers and Pride was in on March 30, 2013 when Georgia State was still in the CAA, and Hofstra won by a score of 2-1.

ABOUT THE HOFSTRA PRIDE
Over the past two weeks, several newcomers have stepped up throughout the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational and the Mardi Gras Invitational. So far, five Pride players have started every game, two of them being freshman, including Madison McKevitt and Meghan Giordano. In addition, junior Kristin Hallam, senior Courtney Scarpato, and sophomore Devyn Losco have also started all eight games this year.

Through the first two weeks, freshman Kasey Colins is leading the team in batting average (.385), as she was 5-of-11 at the plate during the Mardi Gras Invitational for a batting average of .455 across the last four games. Hallam, a .333 hitter, also batted .455 across four games and scored a team-high four runs. Giordano, Hofstra's big bat in the lineup, recorded nine of the Pride's 18 RBI this past week and is hitting an even .300 on the season with one home run and two doubles.

In addition, the freshman pitching duo of Mackenzie Suto and Madison Burns saw much improvement during week two. The two hurlers split time almost equally, while Suto fanned nine batters last week and Burns struck out three. Completing the battery was sophomore Devyn Losco who caught every inning behind the plate.

ABOUT KENNESAW STATE
The Kennesaw State Owls are 5-9 thus far in the 2019 season. The Owls' last swing of games occurred at the Houston Challenge, where the team went 3-2 with two wins over Incarnate Word and one of Northern Illinois, before falling two-straight games to Houston. Prior to the I-75 Challenge, Kennesaw State will play one game at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, February 27.

Kennesaw State has three hitters that are currently batting over .300, led by senior utility player Kira Czyrklis who is a .355 hitter with 11 hits, three doubles, two home runs and six RBI. Senior utility player Maddie Roth and junior outfielder Olivia Cocke follow with a .333 batting average with Roth leading the team with 14 hits. Kennesaw State's big bat is sophomore catcher Lexi Solorzano, who has recorded six home runs on the with nine RBI for a team-best .732 slugging percentage. The Owls have three pitchers who see a decent amount of time, but senior Hailey Andrews (1-5) leads the staff with a 3.41 ERA through 39.0 innings pitched with 32 strikeouts on the season.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH
On the season, the Yellow Jackets are sporting an 8-6 overall record and has won two and a row against Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi State. Prior to the GT and Hofstra matchup, the Yellow Jackets will play a single game against Kennesaw State and a doubleheader vs. the Fordham Rams.

Through the first 14 games, sophomore Breanna Roper is leading the Yellow Jackets with a .480 batting average with two home runs and a team-best 17 RBI and 13 runs scored. Junior Crosby Huckabay is also hitting over .400, as she has 12 hits this year with one home run and nine RBI for a .414 batting average. Senior Katie Krzus and sophomore Tricia Awald have also accounted for much of the Yellow Jacket's run production this year, as Awald is second on the team in RBI with 15 and Krzus is just behind with 14. Georgia Tech has five options inside the circle, but junior Morgan Bruce (3-1) leads the staff with 39.0 innings pitched with a 3.59 ERA which is second on the team. Junior Amber Johns (4-4) has tallied 27.1 innings pitched and has compiled a 3.33 ERA.

ABOUT GEORGIA STATE
Georgia State has gotten off to a rough start this year, as the Panthers currently have a 1-13 record overall with its lone win coming against Eastern Illinois. Similar to the Pride, Georgia State has many newcomers on the roster including 11 freshmen. Before meeting Hofstra, Georgia State will play Western Carolina and Fordham as part of the I-75 Challenge.

Leading the team in batting average through the first 14 games of the season is junior infielder Bailee Sexton, who hits .341 with three RBI. Driving in a team-high five runs is senior outfielder Remington Hasty who hits .256 with five RBI. Three pitchers have seen at least 20.0 innings or more in the circle, including senior Amanda Chance, redshirt freshman Savannah Freeman and redshirt sophomore Emily Soles, who owns the Panther's only win of the season. Soles has also pitched the most innings of the staff with 28.1 and has struck out 14 batters, a team-high.

UP NEXT
After the I-75 Challenge, Hofstra will travel to Virginia and play five games against five different opponents at the Blue and White Classic hosted by Norfolk State and Hampton University. The Pride will face Albany and Norfolk State on February 8, Iona and Morgan State on February 9, and Hampton on February 10.