Charleston, SC-The Cleveland State softball team is set to open its 2024 regular season on Friday with a pair of games at the College of Charleston Invitational. The Vikings will play five total games against East Carolina, St. Joseph's and the host College of Charleston over three days. 

Friday's action will see Cleveland State take on East Carolina at 12:30 p.m. in the second game of the day. The Vikings will return to the diamond in the nightcap against College of Charleston at 5:30 p.m. Live stats will be available for all games, with live video coverage available for all games against College of Charleston. The live video stream will be available on FloSports and requires a subscription to watch.

Action continues with two games scheduled for Saturday and a single game on Sunday. The single game on Sunday against East Carolina has been moved up an hour to a 10:00 a.m. start.

The Vikings return almost the entire roster from a team that won 15 games last season. Cleveland State was picked seventh in the Horizon League Preseason Poll released on Wednesday. 

Five freshmen join the roster for 2024 and will see their first action in the green and white this weekend. Reese Shanahan, Marley Queen, Kylie Gorsuch, Dakota Staffan and Katie McDonald will be looking to get off to a good start as they begin their college careers.

East Carolina finished 27-28 a year ago and features a roster with an even split of 12 returning players and 12 newcomers. Head Coach Shane Winkler enters his third season in charge of the program. College of Charleston won 19 games last season, including 11 in conference play.