FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (10-13, 0-6 SSC) will return to Sunshine State Conference play this weekend in a three-game series against the Saint Leo Lions (26-7, 2-4 SSC) at the AD Griffin Sports Complex. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m. and continues with a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Friday night's game is the softball team's Shark Night, with all students encouraged to White Out the AD Griffin Sports Complex. Prior to the game, the four swimming and diving NCAA National Champions will throw out the first pitch.
 
The Sharks are coming off a pair of wins over old rival St. Thomas. On March 12, the Sharks defeated the Bobcats 9-1 and 7-5 at home. Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.) led the offense with six RBI over the course of both games and a win in the circle in game one.
 
NSU will look to parlay those victories into a meaty winning streak this weekend against a tough Saint Leo squad. The Lions' 26 wins is the second most of any conference team, but at 2-4 in conference due to a sweep at the hands of Barry, Saint Leo finds itself in the bottom half of the standings. Both NSU and Saint Leo will look to use this weekend to propel themselves out of the bottom four.
 
Last season, NSU dropped a razor-thin three game series on the road. However, the series loss was a turning point for the Sharks. They won 12 of their next 13 games and ended the year in contention for a spot in the NCAA South Region Tournament.
 
NSU will welcome an offense led by current SSC Player of the Week Angela Kafalas. Overall, Kafalas went 12-for-28 (.429) and drove in 12 runs during a 10 game week. She also scored nine runs and hit four home runs.
 
Live video and stats will be available all weekend, follow @NSU_Softball on Twitter for in game updates.