Softball Unveils 2018 Spring Schedule
12/15/2017 10:41:00 AM | Softball
Ladyjacks face 29 opponents, including a total of seven NCAA postseason teams from 2017, in challenging 2018 spring slate
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin softball will return for the 44th season this spring as head coach Nicole Dickson and the Ladyjacks have put together a challenging slate of games for their 2018 campaign. The complete spring schedule was announced Friday morning with SFA taking on a total of 29 opponents this season, including seven who reached the 2017 NCAA Softball Championship and four who played in the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) last year.
"We are excited and ready for the 2018 season," coach Dickson said. "This team has worked hard and prepared for a competitive spring schedule, both in non-conference and league play."
The Ladyjacks begin their 2018 journey at the Louisiana-Monroe Mardi Gras Classic Friday-Sunday, Feb. 9-11 as the first of four tournaments SFA will compete in this spring. UT Martin and Chattanooga await the Ladyjacks on opening day Friday, Feb. 9 with morning first pitches at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., respectively. SFA will play its first midweek game and take on its first ranked opponent of the season on Valentine's Day when the Ladyjacks battle Texas A&M in College Station. The Aggies reached the 2017 NCAA Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and finished the season ranked eighth nationally according to both the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and ESPN.com/USA Softball top-25 polls.
Without facing Northwestern State in Southland Conference play in 2018, the Ladyjacks will head to Natchitoches, Louisiana, for the Lady Demon Classic Friday-Sunday, Feb. 16-18. In addition to playing Northwestern State in a pair of non-conference road games, SFA will have outings with Memphis twice and Jackson State. Collegiate softball will return to Nacogdoches Wednesday, Feb. 21 when the Ladyjacks host North Texas for their home opener at the SFA Softball Field.
Ole Miss' Red & Blue Classic is up next for SFA Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25 in Oxford, Mississippi, as the Ladyjacks will take on two NCAA postseason teams from last year throughout the weekend. SFA faces North Dakota State twice, while also going up against host Ole Miss. The Rebels advanced to the 2017 NCAA Super Regionals after hosting and winning the Oxford Regional, finishing the season ranked No. 16/15 according to the two national polls. Following the Red & Blue Classic, SFA will return home to take on another NCAA Tournament team from a year ago in Texas Southern on Wednesday, Feb. 28. The date with the 2017 Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Lady Tigers wraps up a busy, road-centered opening month for the Ladyjacks.
SFA's final non-conference tournament of the season awaits the Ladyjacks to start the month of March in Houston at the University of Houston Tournament Friday-Sunday, March 2-4. A midweek tilt with Prairie View A&M on Wednesday, March 7 will prelude SFA's Southland schedule, which starts just two days later on Friday, March 9.
The Ladyjacks will see conference action against the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi the opening weekend of Southland play in Nacogdoches, before hitting the road the following two weekends for three-game league series at Nicholls (March 16-17) and Lamar (March 23-24). The two conference series are part of a challenging nine-game road trip for SFA. The Ladyjacks play Prairie View A&M for the third time of the season Wednesday, March 14 in Prairie View, Texas, and take on Texas Southern in Houston Tuesday, March 20, before wrapping up the road trip at Big 12 mainstay Texas in Austin on Tuesday, March 27. The Cardinals reached the NISC championship game last spring, while the Longhorns advanced to the finals of Texas A&M's College Station Regional in the 2017 NCAA Championship.
A three-game conference home set versus Sam Houston State (March 30-31) will end the month and begin an eight-game homestand for SFA. The Ladyjacks will see the Lady Demons of Northwestern State for a third non-conference meeting Wednesday, April 4 at the SFA Softball Field, before hosting Central Arkansas (April 6-7) in the weekend's Southland series. The following week, SFA will entertain defending Conference USA Tournament champion Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, April 11. The Lady Techsters, who won a NCAA Tournament game last year, will be the Ladyjacks' final regular season non-conference opponent of 2018.
Over the following two weekends, SFA will make trips to Houston and San Antonio, facing Houston Baptist (April 13-14) and Incarnate Word (20-21) in its final two Southland road series of the season. The Ladyjacks will then return to Nacogdoches to wrap up the regular season with a pair of weekend conference series versus McNeese (April 27-28) and Abilene Christian (May 4-5). The Cowgirls repeated as Southland regular season and tournament champions in 2017 and have posted 43 victories in back-to-back seasons. McNeese State has also won a NCAA Regional game each of the last two NCAA postseasons.
"We play a couple of top-tier SEC programs in our preseason schedule as well as competitive teams with postseason tournament experience," commented coach Dickson. "Competing against programs like Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech will help prepare our team to play at a high level going into conference play. I expect the Southland Conference to be highly competitive as a league. You have a lot of hard working Southland coaches who do an excellent job recruiting, developing and then preparing their teams for league play with strong preseason and non-conference scheduling."
The 2018 Southland Tournament will be held in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Wednesday-Friday, May 9-11 as McNeese hosts the event at the Cowgirl Diamond for the second time in the last three years.
In her second season at the helm, coach Dickson welcomes 11 newcomers to this year's squad, including five true freshmen and six transfers, while returning nine letter winners from a season ago.
Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Ladyjack softball.
-SFA-
2.18.26 | SB v PVAMU Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, February 19
4.9.25 | SB v ETAMU Series Press Conference
Thursday, April 10
3.30.25 | SB v HCU Series Press Conference
Monday, March 31
3.15.25 | SB v Lamar Series Press Conference
Monday, March 17
