WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University softball team is headed to the Sunshine State this weekend for four games.

THE SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 10 (6 pm): at Barry University
Saturday, Feb. 11 (10 am): vs. Mars Hill (at Nova Southeastern)
Saturday, Feb. 11 (12:30 pm): at Nova Southeastern
Sunday, Feb. 12 (12 noon): at Palm Beach Atlantic
Live coverage for each game will be available here.

LOOKING BACK AT OPENING WEEKEND
West Liberty went 1-3 on opening weekend in South Carolina at Coker University. The Hilltoppers played in three one-run games and came away with the victory in the third of the four-game set, 5-4. WLU fell behind 3-0 early, but battled back with five runs over the last three innings to earn its first win of the season.

Junior infielder Savannah Holbrook tallied five RBI going 4-for-5 (.800) on opening weekend with a double leading the Hilltoppers. Freshman Jaden Conrad started all four games and tallied a team-high five hits. Four 'Toppers charted four knocks on the trip to S.C. Mallory Rosnick and Riley Conkle smacked two doubles each, while Sidney Little bombed the lone home run leading off a six-run first inning in game four, but nine errors came back to bite the Hilltoppers, dropping the finale 19-18.

The starting pitching duties were shared all four games by freshmen tossers. Ashlyn Tapman got the nod in game one and pitched six innings allowing just one earned run, then closed out the final 3.1 innings of the game three win ending the weekend with a 1.50 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. Leah Alford made the game two start and totaled four innings over two appearances, Madison Angus tossed 4.1 innings across three games and made the game three start, then Sara Simon started game four and made two appearances with 4.1 innings charted in the circle.

THE OPPONENTS
Barry enters the weekend with a 4-2 record this season, the only losses coming to No. 23 Alabama-Huntsville (5-2 and 10-4). All six games for the Bucs have been at home. Barry defeated Mars Hill in both games of a Thursday twinbill this week (8-0 and 4-1). The Bucs won the lone matchup versus WLU in 2020, 4-7, in Miami Shores.

Mars Hill opened its 2023 season dropping the doubleheader at Barry Thursday evening, then will take on Lynn on Friday before battling West Liberty Saturday morning. The Lions are coming off a 6-32 season in 2022. The only matchup between the Hilltoppers and Lions came in 2012, Mars Hill won it 10-3 in Mars Hill, N.C.

Fresh off an NCAA Regional run with a final record of 38-14, Nova Southeastern has split a pair of home twinbills this season against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents (No. 23 Alabama-Huntsville and No. 12 Valdosta State). The Sharks are receiving votes in the national NFCA poll. Nova has taken the last three meetings between the sides, splitting a 2016 doubleheader then sweeping the most recent meeting in 2020 (7-2 and 9-0). 

Palm Beach Atlantic is 1-3 in the 2023 season with a pair of losses to No. 12 Valdosta State and a split versus West Florida. The Sailfish will host Colorado School of Mines and East Stroudsburg this weekend before battling the Black and Gold Sunday afternoon. Palm Beach last hosted the Hilltoppers in 2016 and swept the doubleheader (12-4 and 8-3). Last season, the Sailfish went 14-26 overall.

UP NEXT
West Liberty will make one more trek down south next weekend to Florence, S.C. playing four games, two versus the hosts Francis Marion and two against PSAC-member Bloomsburg.

Follow West Liberty Softball online all season at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Softball & @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_softball & @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.