Bashing their way into contention: North Florida softball team leading ASUN in home runs
Although the University of North Florida bats went quiet in the final game of last weekend’s ASUN softball series at Jacksonville University, the Ospreys are still in a position to capture one of the top seeds in the conference tournament.
And the season has shown that lulls at the plate are few and far between for UNF.
The Ospreys (29-15, 13-5 in the ASUN) are in third place in the conference with two three-game sets remaining. The next one has turned out to be the most important of the season as UNF plays host to first-place Eastern Kentucky (36-5, 17-1), which is on a 10-game winning streak and lost its only conference game 2-1 to North Alabama.
The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. at the UNF Softball Complex, and a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
UNF is coming off a 2-1 series victory over the Dolphins. The Ospreys hit five home runs in the first two games, winning 9-2 and 4-0, and lost the third game 4-0, generating only two hits.
However, UNF continues to lead the ASUN in home runs with 34, is second in team slugging percentage to EKU (.469) and third in team batting average (.266).
Minnesota native, Oregon transfer paces the Ospreys
North Florida’s offense has been led by Oregon transfer Allison Benning, who is doing her best Shohei Ohtani imitation. Benning, a junior from Lake Elmo, Minn., leads the ASUN and is tied for 28th in the nation with 13 homers, leads the conference with a .707 slugging percentage, is second in OPS with 1.111 to EKU’s Jeanay Riley and is second in RBI with 37.
Benning has a 17-8 record on the mound, tied for second in the league for the most victories. Her ERA of 1.84 is second on the team behind Halle Arends (1.83) and seventh in the conference and her 164 strikeouts lead the team and are second in the ASUN.
UNF has already ensured that last year’s 29-23-1 record in Jeff Conrad’s first year as coach — falling short of making the conference tournament — is a blip on the radar. The Ospreys are one of three teams to have clinched a spot in the tournament May 7-11 at Oxford, Ala., along with EKU and Florida Gulf Coast) and are chasing a possible first or second seed to get a double bye.
The Ospreys have long since passed last year’s mark of 25 homers and are on target to beat every other offensive category.
Coach Jeff Conrad toughened the schedule
Conrad, who was the team’s hitting coach for seven years under Marcie Higgs, said it was a matter of getting more aggressive at the plate and becoming more involved in coaching the hitters after delegating that last season.
“I wasn’t involved with the offense at all last year ... just kind of assuming the CEO side of things, trying to figure it out,” he said. “The offensive numbers weren’t where they needed to be. I missed, honestly, just being involved with it.”
Conrad said there were two other factors involved. The team got covered batting cages, which meant more opportunity for individual work, and he crafted a difficult schedule that included games against Florida, UCF, Florida International and Florida Atlantic, and a four-game road trip to Tempe, Ariz., where the Ospreys played Omaha, UC-San Diego and Arizona State.
UNF went 1-3 in Tempe but lost the final game 6-5 to ASU. The Ospreys returned home and went on a 12-game winning streak, sweeping the first two ASUN sets 3-0.
“One of the biggest changes we made was being a lot more aggressive with our scheduling,” Conrad said. “They got to see the type of pitching they needed to see to get them ready when we hit conference play.”
Allison Benning lasted mere minutes in the portal
Landing Benning in the transfer portal was another obvious boost.
Benning laughs to this day about the first contact with Conrad.
“I got a text message [from Conrad] probably five minutes after I entered the portal,” she said.
As a Midwestern native who played in the Pac-12, Benning said UNF was never on her radar. She had visited Florida only twice in high school tournaments.
“I did some research ... I wanted to get this right,” she said. “I was looking for a team with a good culture and it was something Jeff said they were going to emphasize this year. I was also looking for an up-and-coming team ready to make some noise.”
Conrad, who is from Chicago, said he works hard to track Midwestern players who show interest in coming to Florida.
“We saw her when she was playing with Top Gun [a travel ball organization] and she was a top-15 recruit in the country,” he said. “She’s such a unique talent, able to impact the game in so many ways. She had 16 strikeouts in one game. She’s hit two home runs in a game. She’s really unique.”
Benning praised for fitting within the team culture
Graduate senior left fielder Shannon Glover, who earlier this season set UNF’s career records for home runs (she hit her 29th in the second game against JU) and RBI (she has 138 entering the EKU series), said Benning has been a good fit.
“It’s different his year ... we have taken pride in our team culture, setting standards and making a conscious effort to do the little things right,” she said. “Make sure we're always treating each other with respect, respecting our coaches, respecting the locker room. We knew Allison was going to have an immediate impact on our program but she didn’t come in acting like she was better than anyone else. She’s worked her way to where she is now and I’m really proud of her.”
Benning said she was made to feel welcome from the time she set foot on campus.
“Everyone was really welcoming,” she said. “It was really genuine.”
Ospreys gunning for tournament bye
Benning’s talent for the long ball seems contagious. Glover and senior Abi Annett of Madison County have five homers each, senior Madisyn Fedrico (a Virginia Tech transfer) has four and graduate Logan Jackson has three.
The Ospreys are also throttling teams in the circle. Arends (10-4) has combined with Benning to sit second in the ASUN in strikeouts (nearly six per game) and fourth in ERA (2.80).
UNF would have to sweep Eastern Kentucky and still get help on the final weekend to have a chance to get the top seed in the tournament. A more reasonable expectation would be catching Florida Gulf Coast (14-4) for second but the Eagles beat the Ospreys two of three in their series two weeks ago and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
If North Florida can hold off three teams tied for fourth at 11-7 (JU, North Alabama and Central Arkansas), they will still get a one-game bye to start the conference tournament.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Oregon transfer Allison Benning leading UNF Ospreys power at the plate
