FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (6-4) will compete in the Eckerd College Triton Spring Invitational for its second tournament of the year, Feb. 25-27 in Clearwater, Fla.

On Friday Feb. 25, the Sharks will tackle UMass-Lowell at noon before facing Saint Leo in a non-conference game at 2:30 p.m. NSU will open Saturday with host Eckerd at 11 a.m. prior to battling with its first ranked team of the year in No. 22 Flagler at 1:30 p.m. Nova Southeastern will close the tourney on Sunday with West Florida at 9:30 a.m. and facing another SSC team in a non-conference game against Lynn at noon.

As a team, NSU is batting .323 with sophomore Laura Saladrigas (Hollywood, Fla.) leading the way with a .516 batting average. She has driven in 16, adding three doubles and three home runs.

Lefty slapper Rachel Talenfeld (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is the Sharks leader in runs scored with 13, while also pacing the team with 13 walks. Talenfeld needs only six more walks to become NSU’s all-time career leader at NSU. Kim Eason (1995-98) currently holds the top spot with 94 career walks.

Newcomer Sara DeMuth (Jr., Plant City, Fla.) is the Sharks leader on the mound with a 1.75 earned run average. She has tossed 36.0 innings, striking out 33 on the season.

Senior Lexi Sarradet (Miami, Fla.) only needs to throw one complete game to pass former teammate Dani Caron (2007-10) on NSU all-time career list with 66.

About UMass-Lowell
The River Hawks were selected sixth in the Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll and will begin its first game of the 2011 season with the Sharks. UMass-Lowell are coming off a 23-27 record in 2010 with an even 15-15 record in conference play.

This year's team with begin the year with 10 upperclassmen, four sophomores and two freshmen.

The Series vs. UMass-Lowell
The Sharks own a 1-0 record all-time against the River Hawks. On March, 16, 2007, NSU defeated UMass-Lowell 2-0 in the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Fla.

About Saint Leo
The Lions of Saint Leo has already played 14 games this season, posting an even 7-7 record.

SLU has already played three common opponents with NSU, sweeping North Alabama (5-4, 10-2), splitting with St. Thomas (5-2, 0-3) and dropping both to West Florida (6-5, 18-9).

The Lions are being held to a team batting average of .288. Elysha Agen is the Lions leader with .488 BA. Megan Still has hurled the most innings at 43.2, earning a 2.40 ERA while owning a 5-3 record.

The Series vs. Saint Leo
This will be the 39th meeting between the two teams with Saint Leo holding the slight advantage over NSU, 21-17.

Last year the teams met on four different occasions with the Sharks coming away with a win from each one.

About Eckerd
The Tritons are coming off a sweep over Ave Marie (7-3, 4-3) and now post a 3-8 record, with the only other win coming against Bowie State (12-5).

Kirsten Cox is the Tritons offensive weapons as she is currently at .385 with five doubles. Eckerd is averaging 3.4 runs a game leaving 55 on base over the 10 games.

The Series vs. Eckerd
The Sharks have a staggering 26-4 series lead over the Tritons. As with Saint Leo, the Sharks walked away with only wins in three meetings.

About Flagler
Flagler has found themselves in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top-25 poll for the first time this season. At No. 22, the Saints own a perfect 16-0 season.

As a team, Flagler is batting .314 slugging 11 home runs and has four players batting over .350.

Despite the numbers the offensive is producing, the rock of Flagler has been its pitching staff. With four different Saints in the circle, Flagler sits with a 0.81 ERA.

The Series vs. Flagler
The Sharks own a 3-1 series record over the Saints as they suffered their only loss last season in the Eckerd Tournament with a 2-0 loss on Feb. 20.

About West Florida
West Florida has not played any more games since the Gulf South/Sunshine State Regional Crossover last weekend. With two wins each over Saint Leo and NSU, the Argonauts are 4-0 in the 2011 season.

The Argonauts scored a combined 43 runs in four games and batted .369 as a team.

UWF was 40-16 last season, with a 16-11 mark in Gulf South Conference play.

The Series vs. West Florida
With two losses in the GSC/SSC tournament, the Argonauts pushed their series lead to 5-2.

The two teams played for nearly five and a half hours of softball, but the Sharks were unable to walk away with a win as West Florida took both games of the doubleheader, 8-6 and 9-5 (9 inn.).

About Lynn
After starting conference play with three losses to Tampa during the week, the Fighting Knights will take a break to face six non-conference opponents.

The Knights are 3-8 on the season and are hitting only .267. They are a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases but have committed 18 errors on the field.

The Series vs. Lynn
This with be the 50th meeting between the two teams as the Sharks have a 27-21-1 lead over the Fighting Knights. The Sharks took three in Boca Raton, Fla. last season in a weekend series.

Click HERE for the link of the live audio broadcast for each game and HERE for live stats. Also, follow NSU Softball this weekend through twitter at www.twitter.com/NSUSharks.