PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania softball team is set to open the 2023 season on the road, traveling to North Carolina for the Wolfpack Classic. The three-day classic will take place at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. The Quakers will play five games over three days beginning on Friday, February 24 at 10 a.m. The Red and Blue will face the host institution as well as James Madison University and East Tennessee State University. Penn will play a pair of games against both JMU and ETSU and a single game against host NC State. Penn is meeting all three opponents for the first time in program history.

Live stats will be available for all five games. Streaming will only be available for Penn's game against NC State on Friday. Links for live stats and ESPN+ can be found below or on the schedule page.
 
Previewing Penn
With a new season here, Penn softball enters a new chapter and the Quakers are ready get out of the bubble and starting playing meaningful games. Prior to the season, long time head coach of 19 seasons, Leslie King announced her retirement and her longtime assistant coach Dani Gonzales was named interim head coach.
 
The Red and Blue return six players who made 30 or more starts including the Ivy League leader in home runs, catcher Sarah Schneider. With last year's senior class graduated, the Penn coaches will look to the five freshmen to replace a very talented senior class of 2022.

Returning for the Quakers this season are 15 players, including 10 upperclassmen. Prior to the season, seniors Bella Fiorentino, Schneider, and junior Brianna Brown were named captains of the 2023 squad, all three earned All-Ivy honors at the end of last season.
 
Two new faces will be in the Penn dugout this season. Matt Klampert and Lauryn Brooks were added to then-head coach Leslie King's staff. Klampert arrives to University City after a four-year stint as the assistant coach at Fordham, where he helped coach the Rams to two A-10 championships. Brooks, who is currently a PennPREP student working in a Bioengineering lab in the McKay Department of Orthopedic Research, was a four-year member of the Hampton softball team. During her senior season, Brooks recorded a career-high three hits in Penn's 2022 season opening 12-3 win over Hampton.

Previewing the Dukes
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. James Madison (3-3, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Feb. 24, 2023 | 10 a.m. | Dail Softball Stadium | Raleigh, N.C.
Live Stats

Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. James Madison (3-3, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Feb. 25, 2023 | 10 a.m. | Dail Softball Stadium | Raleigh, N.C.
Live Stats

James Madison is coming off a 3-1 weekend at the Elon Softball Phoenix Invitation. The Dukes posted a trio of lopsided victories including a 5-0 shutout of Michigan State. As a pitching staff JMU has held its opponents to a sub-.200 batting average. Rebecca Muh and Alissa Humphrey have combined for 25.2 innings pitched and both sport ERA's less than 1.40. Humphrey is coming off a complete game shutout where she held the Spartan hitters hitless over the first four innings allowing just a walk in the first inning. No damage was done as she allowed a single hit over each of the final three innings.
 
Nine Dukes have recorded hits in 2023 with four recording four or more hits over the first six games of the season. Hallie Hall and Kylee Gleason are tied for the team lead with six hits each. Hannah Shifflett is one of three Dukes with home runs as she accounts for two of JMU's four homers this season. In the Dukes' most recent game, Hall hit a first inning two-run shot to give JMU an early 2-0 lead but Elon responded with eight unanswered runs, including a six-run fourth inning to defeat the Dukes 8-2.
 
Penn and JMU will open the Wolfpack Classic at 10 a.m. on Friday and then meet again at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
 
Previewing the Wolfpack
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) at NC State (3-7, 0-0 ACC)
Feb. 25, 2023 | 3 p.m. | Dail Softball Stadium | Raleigh, N.C.
Watch | Live Stats
 
NC State opened the season with six straight losses but are 3-1 in its last four games. The Wolfpack enter the weekend as winners of their last two games, including a five-inning run-rule 11-3 win over Elon. NC State got all the runs it would need in a five-run second inning that was highlighted by a MaKayla Marbury grand slam. The Wolfpack added insurance runs in the third and fifth innings to secure the run-rule victory in five innings. Madison Inscoe and Wynne Gore pitched for the home team and limited the Phoenix to just three runs on four total hits.

Penn is NC State's first opponent and will meet in the third game of the Wolfpack Classic.

Previewing the Bucs
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. East Tennessee State (0-9, 0-0 SoCon)
Feb. 25, 2023 | 12:30 p.m. | Dail Softball Stadium | Raleigh, N.C.
Live Stats

Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs. East Tennessee State (0-9, 0-0 SoCon)
Feb. 26, 2023 | 10 a.m. | Dail Softball Stadium | Raleigh, N.C.
Live Stats

Nine game into the 2023 season, the Bucs are still searching for their first win. The Bucs are coming off the losing end of a doubleheader sweep against the Highlanders of Radford. The Highlanders scored seven runs in both games. ETSU scored its only run in the third inning of game one. In the second game, the Bucs took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning but Radford responded with two runs in the second inning and five runs in the fourth for the eventual 7-5 win to complete the doubleheader sweep. As a team, ETSU is hitting .276. Sara Muir leads the team with a .423 average with 11 hits including four home runs and a eight RBI. The Bucs have used eight pitchers through nine games played, with five pitchers pitching more than eight innings. As a team the defense has committed 13 errors from 11 different players.
 
ETSU will open play against JMU on Friday at 12:30 p.m. and then face NC State in the final game on Friday before the Quakers and the Bucs meet at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.