HONOLULU, Hawaii – The defending MEAC champion Hampton University softball team will open the 2014 season Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic hosted by the University of Hawaii at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
 
The Lady Pirates will square off against host Hawaii on Thursday at 11 p.m. EST (6 p.m. local time), before taking on Delaware (7 p.m. EST/2 p.m. local time) and No. 13/16 UCLA (9 p.m. EST/4 p.m. local time) on Friday.
 
Hampton will play twice on Saturday against opponents to be determined by seeding.
 
The Lady Pirates are in their first season under interim head coach Michael Pelegrino, who was an assistant coach last season as Hampton won 34 games, taking the MEAC Northern Division regular-season title and winning its first MEAC Tournament crown since 1996.
 
Junior Jailynn Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.) was a large part of last season's success, earning MEAC Pitcher of the Year honors after winning 26 games for the Lady Pirates and striking out a MEAC-best (and school-record) 255 batters in 252.0 innings pitched.
 
She was also an NFCA Second Team All-Region selection and a Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Second Team All-State honoree. Jackson led the MEAC in wins, ERA (2.64), and strikeouts last season, while setting school records in innings pitched, appearances, and starts.
 
Jackson also threw 25 complete games last season.
 
The Lady Pirates return seven letterwinners and five starters (as well as two pitchers) from last season's squad, including redshirt-junior Margaret Wilkins (Tustin, Calif.), who was named First Team All-MEAC last season after hitting .343 with six home runs and 32 RBIs.
 
She tied for second in the MEAC with 49 runs scored last season, and Wilkins was also third in the conference in hits, fifth in total bases, seventh in doubles, and tied for eighth in the home runs.
 
Sophomore Taylor McCoy (Riverview, Fla.) was the Most Outstanding Player of last season's MEAC Tournament, and she earned VaSID Second Team All-State honors after hitting a team-best .398. She also led the Lady Pirates in hits, doubles, TBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and fielding percentage.
 
McCoy was second in the MEAC in hits, doubles, and total bases last season, while ranking third in the conference in batting average and tying for fourth in RBIs. She was also fifth in the MEAC in on-base percentage.
 
Junior Kerissa Burruel (Phoenix, Ariz.) was a Second Team All-MEAC selection last season, after hitting .285 for the season, recording a .350 on-base percentage, and going 3-for-4 in stolen bases. She also had a .925 fielding percentage, committing just 11 errors on the season.
 
Sophomore Diamond Ponds (Riverside, Calif.) was tied for fifth in the MEAC last season with 22 stolen bases.
 
Hampton is 0-4 all-time against Delaware, including a 2-1 loss to the Blue Hens at the Lady Pirates Softball Stadium on March 10 of last season as part of the Lady Pirates Classic.
 
The Lady Pirates have never faced Hawaii or UCLA.
 
For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.