New York, NY – The Hunter College softball team is set to start their season on March 8^th when they take on Stevens Institute before opening up at home on the 14th against New England College. The Hawks are looking to repeat as regular season champions after going 11-1 in CUNYAC play last season.
 
Hunter returns all five CUNYAC All-Stars from last season in Gianna Raimondi, Allyson Bricker, Brittney Salvador, Erin Schweers and Caroline Bibula. Additionally, they'll attempt to once again lead the conference in batting average as they did a year ago, posting a team average of .381.
 
Salvador, led the team in home runs (6), RBI (34) and hits (39) while Raimondi, provided the team stability behind the plate as catcher and in the batter's box. Last season as she hit .431 and threw out six runners attempting to steal.
 
Bricker, the Hawk's mainstay at first base, led the team in putouts with 177 while excelling at the plate, posting a batting average of .479 and tallying eight doubles. Shortstop Erin Schweers led the team defensively with 47 assists to go with a fielding percentage of .930. Showing discipline at the plate, she led the team in walks, drawing 20 and was also aggressive after getting on base, leading the team in steals with 15.
 
Bibula is expected to take on a major role as a pitcher this season after losing Nicole Guzzone to graduation. Last season, Bibula was second on the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and wins while starting eight games with an ERA of 3.38.

The team has a good mix of returners and newcomers. The Hawks return 13 players while adding seven new faces; six of whom are freshman. 

The 2020 slate features 19 double headers in which eight of them are home and five are against CUNYAC opponents.
 
The 2019 Coach of the Year, Ralph Moroni, is excited as anyone for the season to start stating "The girls have been working hard throughout the offseason and we are excited to start playing games."
 
The Hawks will begin conference play on March 20^th when they face Lehman college for a double header on Randall's Island. The Purple and Gold will face longtime rivals CSI on April 3^rd at 3 and 5pm. The CUNYAC Tournament will take place over two days starting on May 1^st and finishing on the 2^nd.