GAME NOTES:

THIS WEEKEND'S STORYLINES: The University of Hartford softball team opens its 2015 season with a trip to Rock Hill, S.C. for the Winthrop Tournament. Kicking off their 49-game slate, the Hawks will face Appalachian State and USC Upstate on Friday, February 27 for the first day of the tournament. On Saturday, February 28, Hartford will play a doubleheader as it takes on Wagner (12 p.m.) and Winthrop (2 p.m.). The South Carolina trip concludes with a single game on Sunday against Northeast foe Harvard at 10 a.m.

NEXT ON TAP: The Hawks return to the Northeast to take on the Jaspers of Manhattan in a mid-day matchup on Tuesday, March 3, in Riverdale, NY. The doubleheader is scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch

SCOUTING APPALACHIAN STATE: The Hawks are scheduled to kick off the Winthrop Tournament against the Appalachian State Mountaineers of Boone, N.C. on Friday at 1 p.m. The Mountaineers have an 11 game advantage over the Hawks with a 5-6 record. Senior Dani Heichen leads Appalachian in the 2015 season with a .333 batting average on a team-high 11 hits on 33 at bats. The Mountaineers pitching staff hold a 4.47 ERA this season led by sophomore Vanessa Ciocatto who has 10 appearances and a 3.43 ERA in 32.3 innings pitched.

SERIES WITH APPALACHIAN STATE: Hartford and Appalachian will meet for the first time in both program's Division I histories on Friday, February 27, at 1 p.m.

SCOUTING USC UPSTATE: The Hawks will continue their Friday schedule with a matchup against USC Upstate Spartans at 5 p.m. The Spartans are coming off their second-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in a record breaking season that saw the most wins in program history with a 46-9 record. Starting its 2015 season off with a 6-2 record, USC Upstate is led by senior Cheyenne Griffin and freshman Karla Beasley.  Griffin leads the team with a .556 batting average, knocking three home runs so far this season. Beasley adds to the offense by sending over a team-best four home runs this season while sporting a .500 batting average. In the circle, sophomore Lexi Shubert leads the Spartans with a 4-1 record, allowing no earned runs.

SERIES WITH USC UPSTATE: Hartford and USC Upstate will be meeting for the first time in both teams' Division I histories. The only other Atlantic Sun Conference team that the Hawks have previously faced is Stetson University.  The Hawks remain winless over those two games against the Atlantic Sun team.

SCOUTING WAGNER: The Seahawks finished their 2014 campaign with their best record since 2009 after accumulating 20 wins. Wagner is led by senior shortstop Kelsey Parker and junior third baseman/catcher Brenda Bott. Parker led the Seahawks and the entire Northeast Conference in batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.741) and on-base percentage (.493), while Bott finished the season with a .357 batting average, 32 RBI and a .548 slugging percentage.

SERIES WITH WAGNER: The Hawks have seen action against the Seahawks one other time in 2009, falling 0-7.

SCOUTING WINTHROP: The host-team Eagles have 14 games under their belt to start the 2015 season with a 5-9 record. Coming off of a 27-26 season, Winthrop is led by sophomore Maddie Antone, who has scattered 19 hits over 43 at bats for a team best .442 batting average. She also leads the team in runs (14), doubles (5), home runs (3) and RBI (10). Defensively, the pitching staff has a team ERA of 6.93, led by Dallas King. In three games and 28.2 innings of work, King owns a 3.77 ERA. 

SERIES WITH WINTHROP: Saturday's meeting with Winthrop will be the first for the Hawks since they made the jump to Division I for the 1985 season.

SCOUTING HARVARD: Last season, Harvard posted a 28-15-1 overall record. Standing at 2-3 on the young season, senior Laura Ricciardone was lights out for the Crimson's defense last season, posting an Ivy League best 1.53 ERA with 18 wins, including six shutout games. Freshman Maddy Kaplan leads the Eagles this season with a .417 batting average, scattering five hits in 12 at bats with three RBI and one homer.

SERIES WITH HARVARD: The Hawks have seen five previous meetings with the Crimson, but the two teams have not clashed since the 1995 season. In two contests that season, Hartford suffered two-run losses in both, falling 4-2 in Cambridge before dropping a 2-0 decision.

PRESEASON POLL: The Hawks were selected seventh in the America East preseason poll. Junior catcher Sawyer Fried and senior third basemen Jackie Kelly will look to lead Hartford this season and improve upon an 8-30 record posted last year. Fried finished last season batting .287 with a team-high .364 on base percentage with 19 RBI while Kelly sported a .270 batting average, scattering 24 hits including eight doubles over 35 games.

NEWCOMERS: The Hawks add eight new faces to the 2015 roster. Alex Saharek, Jamie Soles, and Elizabeth Newkirk will add depth to the infield while Brittany Wallace and Kelsey Bird look to add to the catching and pitching duties, respectively. Also joining the squad are Bianca Ross, Danielle DeMarco and Christina Gonzalez

FIRST-YEAR SKIPPERS: Former Hawk assistant coach Sarah Kalka was named the eighth head coach in the 37-year history of Hartford softball in July. Kalka arrived at Hartford in 2010 from County College of Morris, where she was hired as the softball team's assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach. Kalka played softball at Rutgers and was a BIG EAST First Team pick in 2007. Two new faces join Kalka's staff as she brought on Denise Marchese and Kara Willis as assistant coaches.