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RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University softball team travels to play in the Mercer Invitational in Macon, Georgia to begin the 2020 season on Friday.
 
The Colonels will play five games over the weekend. EKU takes on University of Tulsa at 11:15 a.m. Friday morning; followed by the University of Dayton at 8:15 p.m. Eastern squares off against Wright State Saturday at 6 p.m. followed by Tulsa at 8:30 p.m. They wrap up their weekend with Mercer on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
 
Inside the Series                                                                                                                   
-This is the first ever meeting between EKU and Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane went 37-20 last year and fell in the final of the Stillwater Regional, 2-1, to Oklahoma State. Chenise Delce returns after going 15-6 on the year with a 1.63 ERA. Delce also hit .282 with two home runs and 22 RBIs.
 
-The Colonels' second opponent on the weekend is Dayton. This will be the 35th all-time meeting between the two teams with the series tied, 17-17. The Flyers went 24-27 last year. Abby Ehrenborg returns after hitting a team-best .358 last year.
 
-EKU leads the all-time series against Wright State, 14-9. Wright State went 22-33 last year and returns Rebekah Lenos who hit .313, with 12 doubles, two triples and 14 RBIs.
 
-Mercer leads the all-times series between the two teams, 5-2. The Bears finished last year 27-29 and return their leading hitter off last year's team Danielle Castleberry. Castleberry hit .376, with seven doubles, three home runs and 32 RBIs.
 
What EKU Brings:
-EKU returns six of nine starters, and 14 of 20 players, off last year's 35-22 team.
 
-There are four new members to this year's team.
 
-Last year the Colonels ranked second in the conference and 53rd in the country in batting average. EKU ranked 55th in the country and fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference in home runs per game. The Colonels ranked 42nd in the NCAA in scoring and third in the OVC.
 
-The Colonels return their top three pitchers from last year. Mollie Paulick returns after going 13-7 last year. Paulick finished third in the country in saves with nine. Samantha Reynoso went 11-3 last year with a 3.23 ERA. Reynoso ranked 44th in the country in walks per nine innings. Bethany Todd went 5-4 with a 4.06 ERA. Todd had 57 strikeouts over 77 and two-third innings pitched.
 
-Second team all-conference and all-newcomer team players: 
 
Sammi Miller was named second team All-OVC and All-Newcomer team a year ago. Miller hit a team-high .391 with 11 doubles, four triples, one home run and 26 RBIs. Miller finished as the fourth toughest player in the country to strikeout with only four strikeouts all year.
 
Zoe Mihalicz was named second team All-OVC after hitting .302 on the year, with six doubles, five home runs and 31 RBIs. Mihalicz finished with a .994 fielding percentage on the year.