CONWAY – The Coastal Carolina softball team travels to Boca Raton, Fla., this weekend, March 5-7, for the six-team FAU tournament at the FAU Softball Stadium.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

• The Chanticleers will be on the road for the second time this season, and this time they will travel to Boca Raton, Fla, for the Florida Atlantic Tournament when they take on the host FAU, No. 10 Kentucky, Florida International, and Illinois State.
• The Chanticleers are 0-2 on the road this season as they fell earlier this season to No. 18 South Carolina on Feb. 24.

WINNING STREAK

• After they dropped four-straight games, the Chanticleers have picked up three consecutive wins at home versus the Lipscomb Bisons during last weekend's Chanticleer Showdown.During the three-game winning streak, the CCU bats outscored their opponents 24-13 and are hitting .346 with 23 RBI, five doubles, four home runs, and forced 10 walks.
• In Sunday's game four finale with Lipscomb, the Chanticleer lineup tallied a season-high 11 hits in the 7-2 victory.
• The pitching staff has put together a 3.33 ERA in that span, allowed 10 earned runs, and struck out nine opposing batters.

BALLIN' BEYER

• Last weekend versus the Lipscomb Bisons, junior catcher Mackenzie Beyer had an excellent series at the plate in four games.
• The Cranston, R.I., native batted .500 (5-for-10), with a home run, two doubles, and knocked in seven runs.
• The junior catcher recorded a career-best five RBI in the 7-2 victory over LU on Feb. 28.

IYANLA WAS ICE

• Sophomore pitcher Iyanla De Jesus picked up her first career win in her second career start on Saturday, Feb. 27, versus Lipscomb.
• The native of Mill Creek, Wash., native threw a complete game, three-hitter on a career-high 96 pitches.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

• The No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats enter the weekend 14-0 overall and scored in double-digits in 10 of their 14 games this season. Kentucky's top-eight hitters have batted .333 or better. Individually, KU is led by Kayla Kowalik with a .542 (26-for-48) batting average. Erin Coffel leads the team with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Collectively, the Wildcat pitching staff has a 1.71 earned run average and is led by Erin Humes, who has worked a staff-best 29 innings and a 1.71 earned run average.
• Florida Atlantic enters the weekend tournament with a  3-10 overall record and has lost five of their last six games. Catcher Kaitlyn Burke is the Owls' second-leading hitter with a .306 batting average and is tied for the team lead with four extra-base hits (three homers and one double). Lynn Gardner is the pitching staff leader with six starts in seven appearances and with a team-high two wins.
• Florida International comes into the tournament with a 5-7 overall record. The Panthers have lost three of their last four games all at last weekend's Spring Games Tournament. Vanessa Gallegos leads the FIU batters with a .333 (12-for-36) batting average, 15 RBI, two doubles, and two round-trippers.
• Illinois State has just played five games in 2021 and has a record of 3-2. On the season,  the Red Birds have beaten North Florida, UT Martin, and Northern Kentucky. Pitcher Morgan Day is a notable performer for the  ISU team as she has a 2-1 record in four appearances, an ERA of 1.09, and 33 strikeouts in 19.1 innings.

HISTORY AGAINST

• Coastal Carolina holds a 3-0 advantage over the Florida Atlantic in the all-time series. The Chants and the  Owls last played on Mar. 6, 2015, at  FAU Softball Stadium as CCU won by 3-1 in a complete-game victory from Kiana Quolas ('15).
• The only time Florida International and the Chanticleers have faced off was in the 20th century. On Mar. 20, 1999, CCU lost to the Panthers by the score of 5-2. In the game, Amy O'Neil and Amy Weller produced the only two runs for the Chanticleers.
• Kentucky holds a 2-0 all-time advantage over the Chanticleers in the all-time series as Wildcats and Chants played an eight-inning contest in the first contest on March 16, 1999 at St. John Stadium. Jessica Falca, Kristie Pulchinski, Tammi Thompson, and Danielle Jenkins all had multiple-hit games, but Kentucky pulled out the win by the score of 9-8. Just a day later, KU blanked CCU behind a three-hit shutout by Keary Camunas.
• The Illinois State Redbirds also hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series over Coastal Carolina. The Chants and ISU played a pair of games in 2006 and 2007. On. Feb. 10, 2006, Coastal's Kelly Feely and Sara Hostetler combined for four RBI in the game but it wasn't enough as Illinois State defeated the teal and bronze, 6-4. A year later, Feb. 23, 2007, shortstop Allison Cantrell led Coastal with a three-run home run in the game but fell, 5-4. 

The weekend's action gets underway on Friday, March 5 at 3 p.m. ET as CCU takes on FAU. On Saturday, March 6, the Chanticleers will play a pair of games versus FIU at 3 p.m. and No. 10 Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. ET.  CCU wraps up the weekend on March 7, with Illinois State at 9 a.m. ET and then No. 10 Kentucky at 11:15 a.m. ET.

For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers(Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.