MOBILE, Ala. – The 2018 season will once again test the University of South Alabama softball team as the program is slated to face 15 teams which reached national postseason play a year ago in the schedule announced by head coach Becky Clark on Wednesday.
The Jaguars will take on NCAA tournament participants Alabama, Florida State, Louisiana, LSU, McNeese State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Of these 10 teams, Alabama, FSU, LSU and Tennessee also advanced to the Super Regionals with the Tigers making their third-straight trip to the Women's College World Series last May.
"I feel like we've put together a challenging schedule and look forward to the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the nation," Clark said. "Every year we strive to play the best schedule possible and I think we have done that again this year. I look forward to it and anticipate great things from our team in the spring."
South Alabama will also face five teams who earned a berth in the inaugural National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) – Murray State and Western Kentucky, along with fellow Sun Belt foes Georgia State, ULM and UTA.
With a roster that features 10 newcomers and 13 underclassmen, the early portion of the '18 schedule will test the Jaguars as 19 of their first 22 games are away from Jaguar Field. For just the second time in the 11-year history of the program and first since the 2008 campaign, USA isn't scheduled to host a non-conference tournament as the Jags will compete on the road at the UCF Knights Invitational (Feb. 10-11), the February Freezer (Feb. 17-18), the Diamond 9 Citrus I Classic (Feb. 23-25) and the Tennessee Invitational (March 2-4) over the first four weekends.
The 2018 schedule officially gets underway on Feb. 8 as South welcomes the Crimson Tide to Mobile for just the third time in program history and the first since the 2015 season opener. Alabama made its 19th-staight NCAA tournament appearance last season and is the only program to appear in every Super Regional since its intro in 2005. Following the matchup versus the in-state foe, USA will make the first of two trips to the Orlando, Fla., area as it will compete in the UCF Knights Invitational. South will face the host Knights and North Carolina on Feb. 10 and then take on Louisville and North Florida a day later.
The second weekend of the season will see the Jaguars competing at the February Freezer (Feb. 17-18) in Starkville, Miss. USA will face Murray State and tourney host Mississippi State on day one, and then Drake and Murray State again on day two. Following a midweek doubleheader versus the Seminoles on Feb. 21 – FSU's first trip to Mobile since the 2013 NCAA Regional – South will head back to the Orlando, Fla., area to compete in the Diamond 9 Citrus I Classic (Feb. 23-25). USA will face Minnesota in a night game on the first day of the three-day event, and then take on Louisville and South Carolina on Feb. 24 before closing out play against Bradley a day later. The matchups against the Golden Gophers – who won both the regular-season and Big 10 tournament titles – and BU will mark the first-ever in the series, while the contest against the Cardinals will not only be the second of the season, but the second in the all-time series. USA and USC will square off for the first time in three years as the two programs last met during the 2015 season at the Carolina Classic in Columbia, S.C. – the previous lone meeting in the series.
South will close out the opening month of the season and continue on the road with an in-state game at UAB on Feb. 28, before making the program's first trip to Knoxville, Tenn. (March 2-4). All four teams in the Tennessee Invitational will face off with each other over the first two days in order to determine seeding each teams' fourth game of the tournament. The final two games of the Tennessee Invitational will be determined later in the tournament following seeding after each team's first three games. The No. 1 seeded team will play the No. 4 seeded team, and conversely, the No. 2 seeded team will take on the No. 3 seeded team on Saturday. On Sunday, the winners of Saturday's games will face each other with the losing teams set to face each other. USA will open the tournament against Charleston Southern and Toledo on March 2, and then take on the Volunteers on March 3.
After facing Southern Mississippi on March 7 in Hattiesburg, South Alabama will return home for its first home game in nearly a month when it opens league play with a three-game series against UTA (March 10-11). USA will then have a midweek contest against former SBC member Western Kentucky (March 14) – the first meeting between the two programs since the Toppers left the league following the 2014 season. The Jaguars will then travel to Georgia Southern (March 17-18) before returning home to take on Georgia State (March 24-25). South will close out the month of March with four more road outings – at McNeesee State on the 28th and then at Louisiana on the final two days of the month. The Ragin' Cajuns picked up their fourth-straight conference title last season and have won 15 of the last 17.
Five of the Jaguars first eight games of the final full month of the regular season will be at home as USA welcomes USM (April 3), Southern (April 11) and ULM (April 14-15) to Jaguar Field. USA will also host a three-game SBC series against Appalachian State (April 21-22) later in the month. Sandwiched between those five home games will be a three-game series at Texas State (April 7-8) and a single game contest at Troy (April 18). USA will close out the month with road outings at LSU (April 24) and a three-game set at Coastal Carolina (April 28-29).
South will close out the regular season at home with a Sun Belt doubleheader against Troy on May 6. This year's Sun Belt Conference Championship will be hosted by Louisiana at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La. (May 9-12). South will be seeking its fourth league tournament title and first since 2015.
The NCAA tournament selection show will take place on Sunday, May 13 with the NCAA Tournament set to begin the following weekend with 64 teams playing across 16 regional sites. The NCAA Regional (May 18-20) and NCAA Super Regional (May 24-27) rounds will be held on campus sites, while the Women's College World Series will take place on May 31-June 6 once again at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla.
SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
- Total Games: 54 (Home: 20 / Road: 19 / Neutral: 15)
- Sun Belt Conference Games: 27 (Nine SBC Series)
- Of the first 22 games, 19 are away from Mobile.
- Southeastern Conference opponents (5): Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee
- Atlantic Coast Conference opponents (3): Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina.
- 2017 Postseason participants (15): NCAA Tournament (10), National Invitational Softball Championship (5)
- NCAA Super Regional teams (4): Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Tennessee
- LSU advanced to the Women's College World Series for the third-straight season.
- Opponents which ended the 2017 season ranked in the USAToday/NFCA Top 25 (7): LSU (6), FSU (10), Tennessee (11), Alabama (12), Minnesota (15), Louisiana (19) and South Carolina (T-25); Mississippi State (RV) and Texas State (RV).
- Opponents which ended the 2017 season ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 (6): LSU (6), FSU (10), Alabama (11), Tennessee (12), Minnesota (14) and Louisiana (19); South Carolina (RV), Texas State (RV) and North Carolina (RV).
- Meeting versus Western Kentucky will mark the first for the Jags since the Hilltoppers departed the SBC in 2014.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear. All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub.
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