CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Queens University of Charlotte softball team heads up the road to UNC Charlotte to take part in the UNC Charlotte Tournament to face Boston University and Canisius in a four-game stint starting at 11:00 AM on Friday, Feb. 16. The final game of the UNC Charlotte Tournament for the Royals will be held at The Stick Williams Dream Fields against Canisius on Monday, Feb. 19 at noon.

GAME NOTES & FAST FACTS

QUEENS ROYALS
- In their first week of 2024 competition at the UNC Wilmington Tournament, the Royals went 3-2 with a 2-1 victory over Northern Kentucky and two shutout victories in the same day over DePaul and NDSU, a feat that has never been achieved before in program history.

- ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year Autumn Courtney owned up to her honor going 2-1 in the circle on the week. The sophomore put up an ERA of 0.41 with 21 total strikeouts in 17 innings pitched.

- Lindsey DeRoeck led the offensive effort for the Royals on the week, as the sophomore put up a .308 batting average with four hits and an RBI. Notably, the first baseman went 2-2 against DePaul on Feb. 10 and fielded 1.000 with 23 putouts.

- Rookie Madison Cantoni put up a strong showing in her first week in her Queens career as the freshman started in all five games behind the plate and tallied 37 putouts. Offensively, Cantoni had solid outings against NDSU and DePaul where she went 2-3 and 1-2 with two doubles against NDSU.

BOSTON UNIV. TERRIERS
- Terriers are off to their fourth 5-0 start in program history after sweeping through the Stetson Classic last weekend with wins over Binghamton (8-0), SIUE (6-0, 9-5), and Stetson (7-2, 10-0). The two opening shutouts marked the first time in program history that Boston has opened the season with back-to-back shutouts. Boston received four votes in this week's NFCA Coaches Poll.

- Graduate pitcher Allison Boaz was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week this week after no-hitting SIUE on February 9, collecting a save in the second win over the Cougars, and then wrapping up the dominant weekend in the Sunshine State with a 7-2 win over Stetson.  Boaz was not the only Terrier to toss a no-hitter on Opening Day last week, though. Sophomore Kasey Ricard sent Binghamton away hitless in the opening game of the season in the six-inning mercy rule victory over the Bearcats.

- The Terriers won the Patriot League a year ago on their way to a 52-10 campaign, the most wins by a Northeast school in 21 years, which led them to the NCAA Regionals in Athens, Georgia where their season ended against Virginia Tech. The season included a top-25 ranking by the NFCA Coaches Poll and they begin this year receiving votes in the poll along with being picked number one atop the Patriot League in the preseason.

CANISIUS GOLDEN GRIFFINS
-The Golden Griffins will be starting their 2024 season in the Queen City this weekend, while everyone else already has a weekend of games under their belts. In 2023, the Griffs were the top team in the MAAC regular season with a 17-3 conference record and 30-16-1 overall. Their season came to a close in the MAAC Tournament Championship in a 6-2 loss to Marist. Canisius has been tabbed second in the 2024 MAAC preseason poll.

-Senior Megan Giese is the two-time reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Year and was named to this year's Preseason All-MAAC Team. The hometown kid from Buffalo, New York had a 3.11 ERA in 2023 with 18 wins and 16 complete games, including 4 shutouts. Also, Giese struck out 208 batters in her junior campaign, which was good enough for third-best in Golden Griffins program history.

-Senior outfielder Christie McGee-Ross was also named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. McGee-Ross averaged .403 at the plate a year ago, while also knocking 54 hits, second-best on the team. She was also honored as a MAAC All-Conference player last season, like Giese, they also return two more players who earned similar honors, senior catcher Gianna Fazzolari and junior infielder Rosie Gomez.
 

SOCIAL MEDIA
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