Softball Set to Begin the 2016 Season in Florida This Weekend

UCF Tournament Central (Links to Live Stats and Video)
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BRONX, N.Y. -- The Fordham softball team is set to start the 2016 season this weekend when the Rams travel to Florida to participate at the UCF Knights Invitational in Orlando and a single contest at Stetson on Valentine's Day.

Fordham is slated to play a pair of games Friday, starting with a 9:30 a.m. contest at the UCF Softball Complex against #19/#21 James Madison, who the Rams eliminated last May in the NCAA Regionals on the Dukes home field. Fordham then plays #5/#5 Alabama later in the day at 2 p.m. Saturday will see the Rams take on Rutgers at 9:30 a.m., before playing the hosts, who are ranked #17/#17, at 2 p.m. to conclude the tournament. Fordham finishes its trip with a 12 p.m. contest Sunday against Stetson at Patricia Wilson Field in DeLand.

Fans can follow all five games via live stats and will be able to watch the games against UCF and Stetson by paying a fee.

Watch a season preview about the Rams by clicking here.

About JMU
James Madison, who finished with a 48-10 record last season, was the unanimous selection to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship in 2016. Jailyn Ford and Megan Good were also named to the USA Softball Top 50 Watch List, and Good is one of espnW's Top 25 NCAA Softball Stars. Fordham trails in the all-time series, 8-5, but is coming off one of the biggest wins in program history when it knocked off the Dukes, 2-1. It was the first time JMU head coach Mickey Dean lost back-to-back games at JMU and the first time since April 21, 2012 that the Dukes lost back-to-back home games.

About Alabama
Alabama was selected to finish fourth in the SEC preseason poll after posting a 48-15 overall record and the program's 10th trip to the Women's College World Series last season. Haylie McCleney and Alexis Osorio, preseason All-SEC selections, are also on the USA Softball Top 50 Watch List. Friday's contest will be the third in the all-time series, which is tied at 1-1. Fordham lost to the Crimson Tide when they were number one in the country, 3-1, in Orlando in March 2011, but the Rams evened the series with an 8-5 victory in the Bronx May 7, 2012 when Alabama was ranked number three.

About Rutgers
Rutgers returns all five infield starters and three returning pitchers from a 2015 squad that finished with a 29-20 overall record and an 11-12 mark in the Big Ten. The group combined to register the program's highest team totals in RBI (255) and home runs (51), second-highest team total in wins (29), and third-highest team mark in hits (433). Fordham trails in the all-time series, 3-1, which dates back to 1999. The Scarlet Knights won a pair of games in 1999 and a single contest in 2001, before the Rams claimed a 6-1 victory in March 2012 in Clearwater, Fla.

About UCF
UCF, who is the back-to-back American Athletic Conference champions, is coming off one of the best seasons in program history, finishing with a program-record 50 wins last season while leading the country with a team ERA of 0.93. The Knights also posted the second-highest fielding percentage in the nation. Shelby Turnier, a member of the 2016 USA Softball Top 50 Watch List, led the nation with a 0.87 ERA in 2015 and became the first NFCA All-American in program history. Seniors Samantha McCloskey, the 2015 AAC Tournament MVP, and Jessica Ujvari, the reigning AAC Player of the Year, join senior Kalyn Cenal, who led UCF with 11 home runs last season. The Knights won the only other meeting, 4-0, in Clearwater, Fla. Feb. 22, 2013.

About Stetson
Stetson, who was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference, returns five seniors, three juniors, and two sophomores from a squad that went 30-20 in 2015 and placed third in the conference tournament. The Hatters were extremely productive on offense, slugging 43 home runs, stealing 94 bases and averaging 5.4 runs per game. Senior third baseman Brittany Hawn was selected as the Atlantic Sun Preseason Defensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, Kayla Drury, Jessie TenBroeck and Jazz Vasquez were selected to the preseason all-conference team. The Rams have never beaten Stetson in three tries dating back to 1989.

Up Next
Fordham returns to action Feb. 19-21 when the Rams travel back to Florida to participate at the Michele Smith Pediatric Cancer Foundation Invitational in Clearwater. Fordham will take on DePaul, South Florida, JMU, Tennessee and Auburn, with the latter two schools earning a preseason top-10 ranking.