SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team opens its season hosting the H-E-B Classic with games starting at 10 a.m. (CT) Friday, February 7. The teams competing in the event are Creighton, North Dakota, Texas Southern and Toledo.
"I'm really looking forward to finally being able to play," Cardinals coach Joe DiPietro said. "Having such a young team, I think it's important for us to have a couple home tournaments under our belt before we travel. There is some stiff competition in this tournament so I'm looking forward to seeing how we do."
COVERAGE
**ALL games will be streamed and have live stats**
Live stream: Cardinals Sports Network
Talent: Scott Mandziara
Live Stats: SIDEARM
NEW FACES
The Cardinals have flipped their roster for this upcoming season and have brought on 13 incoming freshmen and one junior college transfer. This is coach DiPietro's largest and deepest class yet with the hopes of the laying the foundation for the program. The Cardinals have at least one newcomer at each position.
HOME GROWN
DiPietro has made it a point of emphasis to make sure the home-grown talent in Texas stays in Texas. Of the 25 players making up the roster, 23 are from the Lone Star State. The two others come from Colorado and Michigan.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Hailey and Jordan Goins are one of 22 sets of twins playing across the NCAA Division I softball. The juniors hail from Universal City, Texas, and have been with coach DiPietro in all three years during his tenure as head coach. Jordan is an outfielder and compiled seven hits during her sophomore season. Hailey is a second baseman and had four hits with one RBI last season.
BACK ON THE MOUND
UIW returns its top two pitchers from last season in Renee Hoffman and Brett Coleman. Hoffman led the team with 15 complete games across 131.1 innings while Coleman had 13 complete games and finished with a team-best 55 strikeouts. Ashley Trapp and Lexi Shaw also saw action in the circle last year.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
- Creighton – Finished 2019 with a record of 20-14 overall and 8-13 in the Big East. Returning two All-Big East players in Ashley Cantu and Kiara Mills.
- North Dakota – The Fighting Hawks finished last season with a record of 22-34 overall and a 7-11 record in Summit league play. Jannay Jones and Jailene Carpio were selected to the Summit League Preseason Players Watch List.
- Texas Southern – TSU has high expectation as they are picked to win the SWAC West division. The Tigers finished the 2019 campaign with a 24-26 record overall and went 15-1 in conference.
- Toledo – The Rockets are the only team in the field that made the NCAA tournament last year as they got hot at the right time, winning the MAC Tournament as the No. 7 seed. Toledo finished the season with 29 wins and 28 losses and finished 10-9 in conference.
STAY TUNED
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook.
The UIW softball team is on Twitter at @UIWSoftball and Instagram at @uiwsoftball.
