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UNCG hosts annual Spartan Classic this weekend
UNCG Spartan Classic, Feb. 25-27, Greensboro, N.C., UNCG Softball Field
LiveStats: UNCGSpartans.com (all games)
Video: Spartan All Access (free – select games only, see below)
Storylines
• UNCG welcomes Kansas, Minnesota and Morehead State to town this weekend as it hosts its annual Spartan Classic at the UNCG Softball Stadium. The tournament starts at 11 a.m. Friday, while UNCG makes its 2011 home debut at 3:30 against Morehead State.
• UNCG is hosting the Spartan Classic for the fifth straight season and sixth season overall. The tournament was first held in 2003, then took a four-year hiatus before coach Jennifer Herzig resurrected it in 2007.
• UNCG went 4-1 last weekend to win the First Pitch Classic in Charlotte, N.C. After dropping their first game to host Charlotte, the Spartans rattled off four straight wins to take their first tournament title under coach Jennifer Herzig.
• Redshirt senior Kaitlin Merkt hit an even .500 at the First Pitch Classic, with a double, a triple, a home run and seven RBI, while Jordan Jewett hit .429 and Katelyn Bedwell hit .400. Aisha Figueroa (.385), Alex Emeterio (.357) and Heather Robb (.308) also hit over .300 at the tournament. Freshman pitcher Josie Felix went 2-0 with a spotless 0.00 ERA over the weekend, allowing just nine hits and one walk in 12 innings. Cory Mattson was 1-1 and Raeanne Hanks picked up a relief win.
• After being shut out 3-0 by Charlotte on the first day of last weekend's First Pitch Classic, UNCG outscored its opponents 26-10 the rest of the way. The Spartans beat Eastern Kentucky 10-1 in 5 innings later that day and downed St. Francis (Pa.) 3-1 and 8-6 on Feb. 19. UNCG topped Eastern Kentucky in the tournament's title game, 5-2 on Feb. 20.
• Mattson no-hit No. 23 Florida State 1-0 in 9 innings to open the season, recording just the 11th no-hitter in school history and the first to go extra innings or come over a ranked opponent.
• Through 10 games, Merkt is hitting a team-best .483 with two homers and 10 RBI. Jewett is hitting .444, Figueroa .423, Bedwell .389 and April Langley and Eileen Horsmon are hitting .333 each.
• Felix is 2-0 with a 2.62 ERA on the season, while Mattson is 2-3 with a 4.71 ERA. Hanks is 2-1 with a 3.75 ERA.
• Mattson no-hit No. 23 Florida State 1-0 in 9 innings to open the season, recording just the 11th no-hitter in school history and the first to go extra innings or come over a ranked opponent.
• UNCG is 1-6 against Minnesota, 2-1 against Morehead State and has never faced Kansas. The Golden Gophers won the first six games in the series against the Spartans, all on neutral fields in early season tournaments, before UNCG finally broke through with a 1-0 win on Feb. 8, 2009. UNCG and Morehead State split a pair at the University of Tennessee Tournament in 1997, but UNCG leads the series on the strength of a win over the Eagles at the 2007 Spartan Classic.
• Kansas is off to a program-best 10-0 start to the season, having taken titles at a pair of early Florida tournaments. The Jayhawks swept through the field at the Jacksonville University Tournament to open the season, knocking off then-No. 25 North Carolina in their season-opener on Feb. 11. Kansas repeated the feat the following weekend at the Stetson Hatter Invitational in DeLand, Fla., outscoring their opponents 51-19 in five games. Alex Jones is hitting a team-best .419, while Ashley Newman is right behind her at .414 and Maggie Hull is hitting .400. Allie Clark is 5-0 with a 3.04 ERA, while Kristin Martinez is 4-0 with a 2.10 mark. Jones has the other win in the circle, as she is 1-0 with a 1.97 ERA.
• Kansas coach Megan Smith has several ties to the Tar Heel state. A 1999 graduate of North Carolina, Smith was an assistant coach at Charlotte in 2003 – a year before Herzig returned to her alma mater to replace her as an assistant for the 49ers. Smith was an assistant at North Carolina in 2004 before becoming the head coach at Western Carolina in 2005. Smith built the program from the ground up, leading the Catamounts to the SoCon regular-season title in their inaugural season of 2006 before departing to becoming an assistant at LSU. Smith is in her second year at Kansas.
• Minnesota is 3-6 on the season. The Golden Gophers went 0-4 at the Hotel Encanto Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M., to open the season, but rebounded with a 3-2 effort at the aTen Construction Tournament in Riverside, Calif., last weekend. There, the Gophers topped Rutgers, Loyola Marymount and host UC Riverside and fell to Riverside and Loyola Marymount. Malisa Barnes is hitting .538 after nine games, while Kari Dorle is hitting .417 with six homers and 14 RBI. Freshman Sara Moulton has started seven of the Gophers' nine games and is 3-4 with a 5.05 ERA. Alissa Koch has the other two starts and is 0-2 with a 10.78 mark.
• Morehead State is also 3-6 on the season. Like Minnesota, the Eagles dropped four games in their opening weekend, going winless at the Georgia State Tournament in Panthersville, Ga., and were outscored 33-8. Morehead State righted the ship at the College of Charleston Tournament in Charleston, S.C., last weekend, going 3-2 with wins over East Tennessee State, Towson and Akron and losses to Canisius and the host Cougars. Sam Woodall leads the team with a .381 average, while Kayla Ashbrook is right on her heels with a .379 mark. Ashbrook has hit two home runs and is tied with Amber Riddle (.346 average) for the team lead with eight RBI. In the circle, Ashley Imperial is 2-2 with a 4.12 ERA and Kelcey McMurray is 1-0 with a 6.24 mark.
Spartan Classic schedule
Friday, Feb. 25
Minnesota vs. Morehead State, 11 a.m.
Minnesota vs. Kansas, 1 p.m.
Morehead State at UNCG, 3:30 p.m. (Spartan All Access)
Kansas at UNCG, 5:30 p.m. (Spartan All Access)
Saturday, Feb. 26
Morehead State vs. Kansas, 11 a.m.
Minnesota at UNCG, 1 p.m. (Spartan All Access)
#4 seed vs. #1 seed, 3:30 p.m.
#3 seed vs. #2 seed, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 27
Consolation game, 11 a.m.
Championship game, 1 p.m.
(Spartan All Access for whichever game UNCG is in)
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