MONTGOMERY, Ala. (February 6, 2025) – The University of North Alabama softball team begins another promising season this weekend, as the Lions will join Nicholls State and Alabama State at the Stinger Softball Classic from Feb. 7-9 in Montgomery, Ala.
UNA will play both teams on Friday and Saturday in a doubleheader, followed by a Sunday afternoon game with Alabama State to close the weekend. All opening games will begin at 12 p.m. with the two evening games set for 5 p.m.
The games will be pay-per-view streamed on HornetSportsNetwork.com. Live stats are available free of charge. Ticket information is currently unavailable.
The Lions have had at least 30 wins in each of the last three seasons, including a 35-19 record in 2024.
GAME 1
North Alabama vs. Nicholls
Friday, February 7, 2025
Noon
GAME 2
North Alabama at Alabama State
Friday, February 7, 2025
5 p.m.
GAME 3
North Alabama vs. Nicholls
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Noon
GAME 4
North Alabama at Alabama State
Saturday, February 8, 2025
5 p.m.
GAME 5
North Alabama at Alabama State
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Noon
LIVE VIDEO |
LIVE STATS |
TICKETS |
NOTES |
TOURNAMENT PAGE
NOTES
ABOUT LAST SEASON: North Alabama finished 35-19 overall last season and placed fifth in the Atlantic Sun Conference at 15-9. UNA eliminated No. 8 Austin Peay in the single-elimination round of the ASUN Championship last season before falling to defending 2023 champion Central Arkansas and eventual 2024 champion FGCU.
PRESEASON POLL: The ASUN announced its preseason information for softball last Wednesday, as North Alabama was picked to finish fifth with 97 points. EKU, FGCU and North Florida were tied atop the poll with 129 points, while Central Arkansas was fourth with 108 points. UNA had a large margin over sixth place Jacksonville with 74 points.
SCOUTING THE POSITION PLAYERS: The Lions return three starting infielders from last season, including multi-time all-conference senior
Hailey Jones at second base. She is flanked by senior
Lillyanna Cartee at first and rising sophomore
Briley Dover, who is expected to move from third base to shortstop with the graduation of all-conference performer
Haven Kirby. Dover and Jones were both all-conference selections last season. The Lions will have competition for the final infield spot, catcher and the three outfield spots as the season goes on.
SCOUTING THE PITCHING STAFF: The Lions return just one pitcher from a veteran seven-player staff last season, but perhaps the most important piece returns in first team all-conference selection
Alivia Wilken. Wilken finished with 189.1 innings pitched and a 1.48 ERA. She had 127 strikeouts and just 23 walks to rank among the nation's leaders in K-to-BB ratio. Wilken is joined by five newcomers in the circle, including JUCO twins
Katie Simon and
Emily Simon, fellow Wallace State transfer
Lily Boswell and true freshmen
Kaylee Snyder and
Ella Ussery.
WALLACE STATE PIPELINE: UNA has eight players from Wallace State Community College on the roster this season, including returning duo
Lillyanna Cartee and
Alivia Wilken. Twin pitchers Emily and
Katie Simon also come from Wallace State. Both Simon twins were all-region performers, as Emily won conference tournament MVP in 2023 and Katie won the same award in 2024.
Laura Leigh Wheeler was an All-American at Wallace State last season with 22 doubles and 17 homers. Wheeler also had at least one home run in every fall game this season. Another key bat from Wallace State joining UNA this season is
Bayleigh Rouse, who was the only freshman from Wallace to earn all-conference honors in 2024.
Lily Boswell pitched 77.0 innings at Wallace last season with a 2.09 ERA, while
Caroline Cartron was a .392 hitter last season.
THE DREAM TEAM: UNA head coach
Ashley Cozart enters her 12th season with the Lions. She has a career record of 577-220-1 over 15 seasons, including a 386-174-1 record in 11 years at UNA. Cozart is assisted by
Whitney Hawkins in her second stint at UNA, as well as former UNA standout
Hannah Shollenberger and recent graduate
Danielle Taitt. Cozart and Hawkins, back in her first stint, were the 2016 Division II Coaching Staff of the Year.
SCOUTING THE COLONELS: UNA's first opponent of the season is Nicholls, who finished 31-26 last season and 16-8 in the Southland Conference. The Colonels won a pair of tournament games, but were eliminated by top seed McNeese in a 4-3 heartbreaker that went eight innings. Nicholls is led by head coach Ron Frost, a first-year head coach and former Alabama State baseball standout.
SERIES HISTORY VS. NICHOLLS: UNA leads the all-time series 2-0 with both wins at this same tournament in 2022. UNA won the first game in five innings by an 11-1 final. The second game was much closer, as UNA won 6-5.
Hailey Jones and
Ryleigh Boyett are the only two Lions who played in those games, as Jones hit 2-for-3 with four RBIs in the 11-1 win.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS: Alabama State finished with a 28-29 record last season and matched UNA with a 15-9 record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Hornets won three games in the SWAC Tournament last season, but fell to Florida A&M in the semifinal round. Alabama State is led by new head coach Camise Patterson, who spent two seasons as the head coach at Florida A&M with a 46-44 record.
SERIES HISTORY VS. ALABAMA STATE: The Lions and Hornets have met four times since 2019. UNA has won all four meetings by a combined score of 33-3. The first two wins came via shutouts in 2019 and 2021. The Hornets got on the board in the third meeting, but gave up 16 runs in a 16-2 loss in Florence. The most recent meeting happened in Montgomery in 2021, as UNA won a tight one by a 4-1 final. No current Lions have faced Alabama State.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
