ROCHESTER, Mich. – Oakland University Softball stays in Florida and travels across the state to the panhandle where it will do battle with NFCA No. 3 Florida State at Seminole Softball Complex on Wednesday, March 2 at 6:00 p.m. 

Oakland went 2-3 in its first five games at The Knights Classic Presented by Knight Pass with those two wins coming in the first day of competition against #RV James Madison and DePaul by scores of 4-3 and 1-0 before turning around and dropping three-straight to No. 4 Florida, Ole Miss, and receiving votes and host UCF. 

Lauren Griffith leads the team in batting with a .357 average appearing in four games with 14 at bats, five hits, and a double with two RBI. Madison Jones is right behind at .235 in 17 appearances at the plate with two runs off four hits plus a first-pitch home run to start things off against the Gators. 

In the circle, Sydney Campbell holds a 2-2 record in 24.1 innings of work to only allow 22 hits for 10 earned runs for a 2.88 ERA to lead the Oakland unit as the fourth-best in pitched in the Horizon League in such a short season so far.

SCOUTING REPORT

FLORIDA STATE
Undefeated (15-0) Florida State comes off a 4-0 weekend winning series over Hofstra and Indiana the the Unconquered Invitational making FSU 10-0 at home on the year. During the prestigious ESPN Elite Invitational on February 17-20, the Seminoles went undefeated taking down five ranked opponents in No. 15 Tennessee, No. 9 Texas, No. 16 Michigan, No. 24 UCF, and No. 3 UCLA (extra innings). 

The Seminoles' pitcher Kathryn Sandercock was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for the second-straight week on Tuesday, not allowing a run in 12 innings of work for an ERA of 0.0 with three hits and 11 strikeouts.

FSU has the ninth best batting average in the nation at .349, seventeenth in scoring per game at 6.93, sixteenth in slugging percentage at .573, and fourth in shutouts with seven.

FSU will be at Florida A&M on Tuesday night prior to the Golden Grizzlies and Seminoles meeting on Wednesday.

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HEATED UP IN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Golden Grizzlies finished 26-16 overall, 23-11 in Horizon League play last season that concluded in the Horizon League Conference Tournament after No. 2 seed Oakland upset No. 1 seed Youngstown State only to fall to No. 3 seed UIC in the championship match 4-3. 

ALL-LEAGUE HONOREES
Following the 2021 season, five Golden Grizzly athletes were named to #HLSB All-League honors in Cammie Brummitt, Lauren Griffith, Madison Jones, Sydney Campbell, and Jen Krizka. Brummitt, Griffith, and Jones were named to First Team honors as position players while Campbell was one of two to be listed as a First Team Pitcher. Krizka then followed suit with an  All-League Second Team accolade.

RETURNING POWER
Oakland returns all five of the previously mentioned names with an average batting average of .373 as Jones returns to the line up with a team-high .411 average from 2021. Jones was also 15-16 on stolen base attempts and racked up a tying team-high of 13 doubles and seven home runs for a .738 slugging percentage.

Campbell returns to the circle after a 17-7 season a year ago with 91 strikeouts through 165.2 innings pitched to allow 46 earned runs for an ERA of 1.94. 

THE FAVORITE? OAKLAND
The Golden Grizzlies were picked first in the #HLSB Preseason Poll with two first-place votes and 82 in total ahead of Youngstown State who garnered five first-place votes and 81 total, respectively. UIC was third with 74 points (two first-place votes) while Robert Morris (62) and Green Bay (49) rounded out the top five. 

2022 RECRUITING CLASS
The Golden Grizzlies added five student-athletes to the roster for the 2022 season in Kamryn Troyer, Maraina Smith, Jenna Johnston, Kayla Rodriguez, and Taylor Carraway. 

KARN EXTENDED
Head Softball Coach, Lauren Karn, had her contract extended through 2025 as the fifth-year coach has coached 11 student-athletes to All-Horizon League honors while reaching the conference tournament three times with two of those being runner-up performances. Ahead of the 2022 campaign, Karn is 19 wins away from being the all-time winningest coach.