HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team hits the ground running to open the 2016 season on Friday, as the Norse will play five games over three days in the Tiger Classic, hosted by Tennessee State University. Links to live stats for each game will be available at nkunorse.com.
 
Northern Kentucky University Norse (0-0)
University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks (4-2)
Feb. 19 – 9 a.m. Central / 10 a.m. Eastern
Tiger Field (300) – Nashville, Tenn.
Series History: First meeting
 
NKU
Tennessee State University Tigers (1-4)
Feb. 19 – 4 p.m. Central / 5 p.m. Eastern
Series History: Series tied, 1-1
 
NKU
East Tennessee State University Buccaneers (0-2)
Feb. 20 – 3:45 p.m. Central / 4:45 p.m. Eastern
Series History: Series tied, 3-3
 
NKU
Butler University Bulldogs (2-2)
Feb. 21 – 11:45 a.m. Central / 12:45 p.m. Eastern
Series History: Butler leads, 4-0
 
NKU
Evansville University Purple Aces (4-1)
Feb. 21 – 2 p.m. Central / 3 p.m. Eastern
Series History: Evansville leads, 1-0
 
Gleason leads new staff
NKU welcomes an all-new coaching staff to head the softball program. Kathryn Gleason is the new head coach, coming to Northern Kentucky after three seasons at Boston University where she led the Terriers to a 74-74-1 record and a Patriot League crown in 2014.
 
Shana Madura joins NKU Softball as an assistant where she will help the offense and infield. She spent the previous three seasons at SUNY Orange. In 2012 and 2013, she led the team to Conference and Region XV Titles while earning Coach of the Year awards in both of those seasons.
 
Jamie Schulle comes to NKU and will assist with the pitching. After graduating from Norfolk State, she held an assistant coaching position at Norfolk State and Lynchburg College where she assisted the teams in developing more mechanically sound pitching techniques.
 
Offensive punch returns
NKU returns two of their top hitters to the lineup this season in Dani Devlin and Kate Bartolovich. Together, the two combined for 17 home runs and 44 RBIs. Devlin batted .347 and led the team with 12 bombs while assuming the regular catching duties behind the plate. Bartolovich batted .295, including 15 extra-base hits, while playing third base.
 
Fresh Faces on the Field
NKU welcomes five freshmen to the squad to bolster the offense. Jessica Dmochowski batted .481 her senior season at Cincinnati Glen Este High School. Zahrya McFarland hit .551 with 34 RBIs and a .630 on-base percentage last year at Downers Grove South (Illinois) High School. Kara Meter, in her junior season, batted .381 with 28 RBIs at Andrew High School in Illinois. Hayley Curtis batted .494 with 5 home runs her final campaign at Cincinnati Colerain High School.
 
New Blood in the Circle
Junior pitcher Charlie Nolen, comes to NKU after playing two seasons at Kankakee Community College.  While there, she pitched to a 1.27 ERA while amassing 24 wins in 154 innings pitched. She helped lead her team to the NJCAA National Championship and was named to the First-Team All National Championship Tournament.
 
Jordan Harbacek looks to be a potent player on the mound and in the batter's box. In her sophomore season at Plainfield South (Illinois) High School, she pitched to 2.15 earned run average over 167 innings pitched. That same season she batted .429 and had 25 runs batted in. She finished her high school career as the team's all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched.