2015 Softball Schedule Announced
12/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2015 SFA Softball Schedule
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin head softball coach Gay McNutt has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2015 season. The Ladyjacks will face some of the best programs in the country during the course of the year as the schedule features games against seven teams that went to the 2014 NCAA Regionals, including a Baylor team that reached the Women’s College World Series.
“I think we had a good fall,” said McNutt. “It wasn’t a great fall, but it was a good fall. I feel good about where we’re at. Of course it’s about where we finish, not where we start. I don’t want the team to be completely peaked by the time February rolls around but we’re in a good place at the moment and I feel good about it.”
The Ladyjacks will open the season at the Getterman Classic hosted by Baylor University in Waco, Texas from Feb. 6-8. SFA will face Southland Conference foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to kick off the season before also meeting Baylor and Wichita State in the event.
Baylor came just two wins away from advancing to the Championship Series in the 2014 Women’s College World Series, falling to eventual champion Florida 6-3 in an elimination game. The Bears finished the year with a record of 49-16.
The following weekend, the Ladyjacks will venture to Houston for the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational hosted by the Cougars on Feb. 13-15. SFA will see two 2014 postseason teams in DePaul and Houston while also getting games against UMass, UNI and McNeese State.
Texas Southern will come to Nacogdoches for the Ladyjacks’ home opener on Feb. 18 at the SFA Softball Field. The Lady Tigers represented the SWAC in the NCAA Regionals last year, showing well in two postseason games. First pitch for the matchup is set for 3:00 p.m.
The Ladyjacks’ third and final non-conference tournament of the season is the LSU Tournament from Feb. 27-March 1 in Baton Rouge, La. SFA will face host and 2014 Regional participant LSU twice in the event while also playing Florida Atlantic and Ball State.
“I think our non-conference schedule is challenging but it’s also very doable to put us into conference on a very high and positive note,” McNutt said. “It’s going to be challenging and very competitive but it leaves us a lot of room for us to be very successful.”
The 2015 SLC regular season opens on March 7 when the Ladyjacks travel to play three games against Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La. over a two-day span. SFA will play eight more SLC series over the course of the year, with a set every weekend leading up to the league tournament. Conference play will feature double-headers on Fridays with one game to follow on Saturday afternoons.
Once the conference season starts, SFA will also sprinkle in mid-week games against UTSA, Texas State, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern, ULM, North Texas and 2014 NCAA Regional qualifier Texas A&M.
The final two weeks of the season will present a tough test for McNutt’s squad as the Ladyjacks host Northwestern State, the SLC representative in the 2014 NCAA Regionals, at SFA Softball Field the final weekend in April. The last week of the regular season, the Ladyjacks will be on the road for three games against rival Sam Houston State before the SLC Tournament gets underway on May 7 in Natchitoches, La.
“I expect us to go into the tournament very strong,” said McNutt. “That’s the time we want to be peaking, that’s the time we want to be playing our best softball. That’s our expectations and that’s our goal for the conference season. Then we want to go into the tournament and win it. We’re not so much focused on the regular season as much as we are the tournament.”
The top six teams in the conference standings will qualify for the conference tournament with the winner representing the Southland in the NCAA Regionals.
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