CHARLESTON, S.C. – The long-awaited Charleston Southern softball season begins anew this weekend with the Buccaneers playing host a slew of action in a tournament format. The Bucs will welcome Toledo and UNCW for seven total games starting Friday and running through Sunday at the CSU Softball Complex.

SECOND SEASON UNDER MUSSER
Charleston Southern hits the field after completing the 2021 campaign under Christi Musser, who returns to the dugout for her second year with the program. The Bucs picked up 11 victories last spring, over half of which came in Big South play and nearly two-thirds of which came at their home stadium.

The Buccaneers made strides throughout the season under her watch, winning six times in April in a late-season push. Her first career head coaching win was on the opening weekend, a 2-1 triumph over Cleveland State Feb. 20.

ROSTER COMPOSITION
Four players on this year's roster are graduate students – Lilly Bishop, Baylee Eaton, Taylor Gleason and Madison Koger. They are joined by five seniors – Erika Cooper, Rhiana Hubbard, Raleigh Lewis, Ashley Meckley and SeaEnna Satcher in an experienced dugout.

Five freshmen will get their first taste of collegiate softball this spring, as Maggie Carpenter, Blake Holtorf, Weslin Jones, Lexi Markle and Gracie Prince will don the Bucs uniform for the first time.

IN THE CIRCLE
Five pitchers will vie for innings in the circle, as Noelle Chaney, Carpenter, Eaton, Holtorf and Annah Junge are all expected to see time throughout the season. Both Holtorf and Junge were on the roster a year ago and compiled 36 appearances between them with 19 starts.

TOP HITTERS
Meckley anchors the offensive side as the top-returning hitter. She hit .277 in 2021 with a 1.045 OPS, joining the 1.692 OPS by Emily Crosby as the only CSU players above 1.000. Crosby carried a .538 batting average in her limited 13 at-bats through four games, slugging two home runs.

Meckley led the squad in dingers (10), runs battled in (20) and total bases (66), while also drawing a team-high 19 walks and finishing perfect on the base paths with an 8-of-8 stolen-base performance.

Satcher (three home runs), Ashlyn Cribb (two) and Koger (two) are returning Buccaners with multiple hits over the fence.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
This weekend's event will feature seven games over three days, starting with a Charleston Southern and Toledo doubleheader at 5 p.m. Friday with the second game to follow immediately. The Rockets then will face UNCW in Saturday's opening contest at Noon before matching up with the Bucs again at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The second-day night cap at 5 p.m. will feature CSU and the Seahawks. Sunday's action concludes the tournament, starting with another neutral-site tilt between Toledo and UNCW at 10 a.m. before Charleston Southern and UNCW close the action at Noon.

Admission to all home CSU softball games are free. Live stats will be available throughout the weekend with select coverage also picked up by ESPN+. Links to all are available on CSUSports.com.