BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Coming off a third consecutive winning weekend, the LIU Brooklyn softball team (13-8) will conclude their Spring break trip with the USF Tournament in Clearwater, Fla., from Friday through Sunday, March 15-17. The annual USF-Michelle Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational Tournament is held at Clearwater's Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex.
USF TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Hosted by both South Florida, the Blackbirds will face a familiar opponent in Florida Gulf Coast in their first game (Friday, 4:45 p.m.). LIU split a pair of games with the Eagles at their FGCU Kickoff Classic falling 7-0 on Saturday, before pulling out a 3-2 win with junior Haley Irvis in the circle for the start (five innings, two hits) and freshman Elena Valenzuela picking up her first collegiate save. Immediately after FGCU, the Blackbirds will play Chattanooga (Friday, 7:15 p.m.), the team's first true night game of the year. On the middle day, LIU will play Buffalo (Sat., 2 p.m.) for the first time in program history, with a matchup against Towson (Sat., 4:15 p.m.) right after. LIU will finish up on Sunday with Brown (Sun., 11:15 a.m.), from the Ivy League before heading back north.
VALENZUELA THREE-PEATS NEC HONORS
Valenzuela (7-2) closed last weekend with a tremendous start on Sunday, her fourth shutout of the season, to help win the Northeast Conference's Pitcher and Rookie nod for the third consecutive week. She pitched perfect eighth inning to get the win against Florida International (17-8). The freshman gave up only four hits and walked two batters in eight innings of work, while tying her season-high with five strikeouts in the 1-0 win. She went 2-1 on the week, beginning with a 5.1 inning outing in a win against Florida A&M. On the season, the California native has a 1.58 earned run average to lead the Northeast Conference and her four shutouts to date ranks sixth in the National rankings.
SOARING 'BIRDS
Starting with the circle, sophomore Victoria Lowe has yielded no more than one run in four of her last five outings, which include two complete game shutouts and a one-run performance against Yale on Sunday. Her batterymate, freshman Samantha Garcia leads the team in home runs with three, while hitting right in the middle of the lineup. Speaking of the top of the lineup, junior OF Patricia Griffin, the was starting to heat up last week, hitting .500 in the five games, with at least one hit in each game. Senior Schae Dickson, batting second of late, currently leads the 'Birds in hits (19), runs scored (13) and runs batted in (13). The team's leading hitter is senior Amanda Domingo with a .345 batting average.
WINNING WEEKENDS
After going 2-3 on each of the tournaments to start the 2019 season, the Blackbirds have posted winning weekend each of the last three weeks. LIU ended February with a 4-0 mark at the Jacksonville Classic, followed by a 2-0 record at UCSB's Gaucho Classic to start March. Last weekend, the Blackbirds went 3-2 at the FAU/FIU Invitational. Besides the notable pitching performances in each of those weekends, the Blackbirds beat the host squad on their home field to cap the event - topping JU 5-0, UCSB 6-1 and FIU in Miami last Sunday, 1-0.
THE OPPONENTS
Florida Gulf Coast • ECM Field #4
2019 Record: 10-10
LIU Record vs the Eagles: 3-12 all-time, 1-1 this season; last game: 2/10/19 (3-2 win).
Top Player: Racquel Fournet, Sr., OF, .313 batting, 5, runs, 13 RBIs
Top Pitcher: Riley Randolph, Sr., LHP, 8-5, 0.75 earned run average, 110 Ks
Chattanooga • ECM Field #2
2019 Record: 17-5 (prior to the tournament)
LIU Record vs. the Mocs: 2-4 all-time; Last meeting, 2018 (7-4 win)
Top Player: Amanda Beltran, Sr., C, .349 batting, 6 HR, 22 RBIs
Top Pitcher: Celie Hudson, Jr., RHP, 6-4 record, 2.68 ERA, 61 strikeouts
Buffalo • ECM Field #8
2019 Record: 1-16
LIU Record vs. the Bulls: 0-0 all-time;
Top Player: Anna Aguon, So., UT, .348 batting, 2 HR, 7 runs, 5 RBIs
Top Pitcher: Ally Power, Sr., P/OF 1-9 record, 5.12 ERA, 24 strikeouts
Towson • ECM Field #8
2019 Record: 9-7
LIU Record vs. the Tigers: 3-1 all-time; Last meeting, 1987 (9-2, 10-3 wins)
Top Player: J- Smith-Harrington, Jr., P/UT, .424 batting, 3 HR, 13 runs, 15 RBIs
Top Pitcher: J- Smith-Harrington, Jr., P/UT, 5-0 record, 0.44 ERA, 37 strikeouts
Brown • ECM Field #9
2019 Record: 4-3
LIU Record vs. the Bears: 5-5 all-time; Last meeting, 2017 (8-0 win)
Top Player: Madi Crawford, So., C, .778, 5XBH, 5 runs, 7 RBIs
Top Pitcher: Emily Waters, Jr. SP, 2-2 record, 4.84 ERA, 5 strikeouts
TOURNAMENT LINKS
'BIRDS HEAD NORTH
The Blackbirds will play their first game up north, at nearby Hofstra in Hempstead, LI on Wednesday, March 20 at 3:00 p.m.