WASHINGTON (February 7, 2024) – Howard University Softball kicks off the 2024 season, playing in the Black & Gold Classic, hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), in Orlando, Florida. The four-day (Feb. 8-11) tournament includes the Lady Bison, UCF, UConn, Seattle and Georgia State.
HU begins the season against UConn Thursday (Feb. 8) at 2 p.m. Then, the Lady Bison will face UCF at 4:30 p.m., later that afternoon. They will play Georgia State Friday (Feb. 9) at 10 a.m., followed by Seattle Saturday (Feb. 10) at 10 a.m. Later that day, they close out the Black & Gold Classic against Georgia State at 12.30 p.m.
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The Bison face UCF on ESPN+.
MATCHUP PREVIEWS
HOWARD
Entering the season, the Lady Bison are projected to finish third in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), behind Morgan State and North Carolina Central, respectively.
Catcher
Alyssa Vasquez (Downey, Calif.), second baseman
Lealani Ricks (Madera, Calif.) and third baseman
Kenna Higa (Honolulu) were named to the MEAC Preseason First Team. Shortstop
Sidney Fletcher (Whittier, Calif.) and utility player
Amelia Weber (Montclair, Calif.) were selected to the Preseason Second Team.
After only losing three players from last year's team, Howard looks to win the MEAC regular season title for the second time in three seasons.
UCONN
The Huskies are picked to finish second in the Big East Conference.
Last season, they finished with an overall record of 34-15 (19-5 Big East). UConn finished first in the regular season but lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament to No. 2 seeded Villanova.
They look to win their third straight Big East regular season crown after winning back-to-back titles for the first time since the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
GEORGIA STATE
The Panthers are voted to finish 10
th in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).
They finished last season with an overall record of 18-36 (7-17 SBC). Georgia State finished ninth in the league and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Louisiana-Monroe.
Howard has played Georgia State twice in the series history, with Georgia State winning both matchups in March 2010.
SEATTLE
The Redhawks are picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
Seattle finished with an overall record of 36-20 (14-10 WAC). Seattle finished fourth in the WAC and lost to Grand Canyon in the championship game of the conference tournament.
UCF
UCF is projected to finish fifth in their inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference.
Last season, the Knights finished with an overall record of 40-21 (15-3 AAC). Central Florida finished second in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and won the AAC tourney to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
They were the No. 6 seed in the Tallahassee region of the NCAA Tournament, but after defeating South Carolina in their first game, they lost their last two games to Florida State and South Carolina.
SEASON OUTLOOK
After finishing with an overall record of 20-26 (10-9 MEAC) last season, the Lady Bison finished fourth in the regular season.
Following their second consecutive 20-win season, the Bison placed third in the MEAC Tournament behind North Carolina Central and Coppin State. The Bison had five players named to the All-Conference Team, with five players earning Postseason Honors.
Offensively, Howard led the conference in batting average (.307), hits (364) and least strikeouts (121). They also finished top 3 in runs (225), doubles (49), triples (9), runs batted in (190), total bases (437) and slugging percentage (.369).
The Lady Bison are hoping to duplicate the same level of success on both ends of the field behind their five Preseason All-Conference players, especially Fletcher and Vasquez, who ranked top 3 in multiple statistics.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
On Feb. 16-18, Howard goes to Covington, Ga., for the HBCU Invitational where they will face five opponents from the Southwest Athletic Conference.
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.
