TOLEDO, OH –Toledo (2-8) will travel to South Carolina on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25 for four games at the Buffalo Wild Wings Classic. The Rockets will first face Sacred Heart and co-host Furman on Friday in Greenville, SC before heading up the road to Spartanburg, SC to match up against Western Carolina and co-host USC –Upstate on Saturday.
 
    Live stats for all four games and a link to the live stream of UT's game vs. Furman can be found on the Toledo Softball schedule page.
 
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 24
(Games in Greenville, SC at Pepsi Softball Stadium)
                Sacred Heart vs. Toledo, 11:00 a.m.
                Toledo at Furman, 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 25
(Games in Spartanburg, SC at Cyrill Softball Stadium)
                Western Carolina vs. Toledo, 11:00 a.m.
                Toledo at USC-Upstate, 1:00 p.m.
 
ROCKET LEADERS
    Senior 2B Chandler Rice remains one of Toledo's top offensive threats this season. The Louisville, OH native holds a .429 batting average with 15 hits through UT's 10 games. Rice has scored a team-high nine runs and recorded 29 total bases. The senior is on a six-game hitting streak and leads the team with three doubles and three home runs, and she ranks second with 10 RBI and a .829 slugging percentage.
    Freshman UT Samantha Golden paces UT with a .526 batting average and .609 on-base percentage. Golden is currently riding a five-game hitting streak. Sophomore 3B Katie Cozy is batting .423 and has recorded a team-high .885 slugging percentage. Cozy has tallied 11 hits, three doubles, three homers and eight RBI.
    In the circle, sophomore Heather Webb leads the Rockets with a 6.84 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 25.0 innings pitched. Webb has made seven appearances, hurling for four complete games and winning one.

STRIKEOUT CANCER TOURNAMENT RECAP
    Toledo finished last weekend's Strike Out Cancer Tournament with a 1-4 record. UT dropped a pair of one-run decisions to Tulsa (5-4) and St. John's (4-3) before soaring to a 14-4 victory over Savannah State in their final contest on Feb. 19.
    Sophomore Kailey Minarchick (1-2) earned her first collegiate victory, throwing 4.0 innings vs. the Tigers.
    Rice lead the way offensively for the Rockets and went 3-for-4 with three doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Junior Ashley Rausch also went 3-for-4, scored three runs and recorded a pair of RBI.
 
OPPONENT BREAKDOWN
    Sacred Heart will open its 2017 season at this weekend's Buffalo Wild Wings Classic. The Pioneers finished last season with an overall record of 13-34-2 and went 4-12 in the Northeast Conference. SHU returns senior pitcher Jamie Carlson and junior OF Lauren Delgadillo, who paced the Pioneers with a .297 batting average.
    Furman will head into this weekend's tournament with an overall record of 4-6. Last weekend, Furman posted an impressive 4-1 record in the USC-Upstate/Furman Classic. They defeated Georgetown (11-6), Colgate (3-2), Campbell (5-3) and Towson (12-0). Their only loss was a one-run defeat to Presbyterian (5-4). Anna Rose Borrelli paces the Paladins with a .367 batting average. Borrelli has recorded two doubles, two homers, nine RBI and three runs scored on 11 hits.
    Western Carolina will compete in its first games of the season this weekend. The Catamounts ended 2016 with an overall record of 33-24 and a 9-9 ledger in the Southern Conference. WCU will be returning the battery of last year's squad, senior C Kara Salvo and senior P Courtney Buchanan. Senior OF Courtney Price helped lead last season's offense by posting a .282 batting average and recording 13 doubles, five home runs and 26 RBI.
    USC-Upstate has a record of 9-2 heading into the Buffalo Wild Wings Classic this weekend. The Spartans went without a loss last weekend in the USC-Upstate Classic where they beat Campbell (3-2), Iona (3-1), Georgetown (9-0), Colgate (8-0) and Presbyterian (4-0). Upstate's top performer is senior C Abbie Millete who has registered a .355 batting average, three home runs, four doubles and eight RBI.
 
ROCKETS VS. THE FIELD
    Toledo leads the all-time series with Scared Heart, 2-0. UT defeated the Pioneers in 2004, 6-2, and in 2005, 3-2.
    The Rockets hold a 5-4 edge over Furman. The last matchup between the two squads was in 1999 where Toledo defeated the Paladins, 9-3.
    This will be Toledo's first ever meetings between Western Carolina and USC-Upstate.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
    The Rockets will keep their suitcases packed and venture to Hawaii for the first time in program history. The Midnight Blue & Gold will compete in two consecutive tournaments hosted by the University of Hawai'i as part of their spring trip. UT will first take on Charleston Southern, Seattle and Hawai'i in the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament on March 3-5, and will finish its outing at the Hawai'i Spring Fling Tournament on March 8-11. Competing in the Spring Fling will be 2016 NCAA Tournament team Utah, Charleston Southern, Marist and Hawai'i.