Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Softball Reveals 2017 Schedule
11/4/2016 10:30:00 AM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee softball announced the 2017 softball schedule Friday. The schedule features four early-season tournaments, including one in California as well as the Blue Raiders hosting Women's College World Series runner-up, Auburn.
"This year we have an exceptionally challenging schedule," said assistant coach Tony Foti. "We've got no breaks but we look forward to it and I think we're ready. The team has had a great fall, we have played really well, so I think were up for the task."
The Raiders will kick off their season in nearby Statesboro, Ga., with the Georgia Southern Tournament Feb. 10-12. Middle will play host Georgia Southern as well as in-state rivals Tennessee and Tennessee Tech in the tournament.
"We open the year versus Tennessee, who was nearly a World Series participant, and we will play Tennessee Tech, who won the Ohio Valley Conference two years ago," said Foti. "So we'll start out tough and that goes right through the whole month of February, giving us that top level competition to prepare for us for conference play."
MT will then travel to Hammond, La., for the Southeastern Louisiana State Tournament Feb. 17-19. While there, the Blue Raiders will face off against Southeast Missouri State, Morehead State, UT Arlington, Alcorn State and host Southeastern Louisiana.
A trip to Mobile, Ala. follows on Feb. 24-26 for the South Alabama Tournament, where the Raiders will square off with Stephen F. Austin, South Alabama and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The final early-season tournament will be the Cal Poly Mustang Invitational in San Luis Obispo, Calif. March 3-5. MT will have the opportunity to play Liberty, Sacred Heart and host Cal Poly.
"Some of the other teams we play are UT Arlington, who last year won their first 19 games of the year. They were 19-0 at one point, and then South Alabama went to their conference tournament," Foti said. "Then we go to California and that's always going to be tough, so it'll prepare us well. We're going to be playing the type of teams we will face in our conference, so we just have to get used to playing them early."
The Blue Raiders are also scheduled to play three teams that are coming off postseason appearances in NCAA Regionals as well as the WCWS. They'll face Tennessee, who hosted the Knoxville Regional a year ago, and conference foe Florida Atlantic, who got knocked out of the Gainesville Regional by Central Florida.
In their biggest test, Middle hosts WCWS runner-up Auburn. The Tigers finished second to Oklahoma last season, defeating powerhouses such as Arizona, Florida State, UCLA and Georgia to get there.
"It is exciting for us [to host Auburn], and there are not many people that can claim that because outside of SEC play, Auburn never travels," said Foti. "Their old operations manager was a friend of mine, and we were able to get this organized. I just spoke to coach Clint [Myers] down there, and they are pretty excited to come up and play."
The conference slate begins March 11 at home with a double-header against rival WKU. The Blue Raiders also host Florida International, UAB and Marshall later in the season. Middle also does its fair share of conference travel, as they will go to El Paso, Texas, to play UTEP for the first conference road games March 18-19. The Raiders also go on the road to play La Tech, Florida Atlantic and Charlotte this season.
"Conference will be tough this year," Foti said. "We play an unbalanced schedule, so we don't play everyone. Looking at schedules, we probably play the toughest schedule in our conference. We go to El Paso, which no one wins when you go to UTEP- it's really difficult. We play FIU, who was in the [conference] tournament last year, and La Tech, who was third in the west division. Then FAU, who went to regionals and came within a whisker of going to superregionals. UAB went to the [conference] tournament and was ranked in the top 20 at the start of preseason a few years back. Then finally, Marshall, who is perennial."
Middle will kick off the home schedule as they host Austin Peay March 1, and then host Belmont April 19 and Tennessee State April 26. The Raiders will travel to Austin Peay Feb. 21, Tennessee State March 22, UT Martin March 29 and Belmont April 5.
"It is always exciting to play your in-state rivals, even though we don't necessarily play in the same conferences," said Foti. "However, just the fact that we are all in and around Nashville, competing for similar recruits and obviously branding and publicity and stuff like that out there. So it's always fun to play the local teams, and it's easy on the travel for both teams and easy on the players."
The Blue Raiders will also host a pair of Alabama schools for non-conference doubleheaders this season. MT is slated to play Alabama State on April 12 and Alabama A&M on April 18.
Hattiesburg, Miss., will be the host of the C-USA Tournament again this season. It will take place May 11-13 and will feature the top eight teams in the standings.
"This year we have an exceptionally challenging schedule," said assistant coach Tony Foti. "We've got no breaks but we look forward to it and I think we're ready. The team has had a great fall, we have played really well, so I think were up for the task."
The Raiders will kick off their season in nearby Statesboro, Ga., with the Georgia Southern Tournament Feb. 10-12. Middle will play host Georgia Southern as well as in-state rivals Tennessee and Tennessee Tech in the tournament.
"We open the year versus Tennessee, who was nearly a World Series participant, and we will play Tennessee Tech, who won the Ohio Valley Conference two years ago," said Foti. "So we'll start out tough and that goes right through the whole month of February, giving us that top level competition to prepare for us for conference play."
MT will then travel to Hammond, La., for the Southeastern Louisiana State Tournament Feb. 17-19. While there, the Blue Raiders will face off against Southeast Missouri State, Morehead State, UT Arlington, Alcorn State and host Southeastern Louisiana.
A trip to Mobile, Ala. follows on Feb. 24-26 for the South Alabama Tournament, where the Raiders will square off with Stephen F. Austin, South Alabama and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The final early-season tournament will be the Cal Poly Mustang Invitational in San Luis Obispo, Calif. March 3-5. MT will have the opportunity to play Liberty, Sacred Heart and host Cal Poly.
"Some of the other teams we play are UT Arlington, who last year won their first 19 games of the year. They were 19-0 at one point, and then South Alabama went to their conference tournament," Foti said. "Then we go to California and that's always going to be tough, so it'll prepare us well. We're going to be playing the type of teams we will face in our conference, so we just have to get used to playing them early."
The Blue Raiders are also scheduled to play three teams that are coming off postseason appearances in NCAA Regionals as well as the WCWS. They'll face Tennessee, who hosted the Knoxville Regional a year ago, and conference foe Florida Atlantic, who got knocked out of the Gainesville Regional by Central Florida.
In their biggest test, Middle hosts WCWS runner-up Auburn. The Tigers finished second to Oklahoma last season, defeating powerhouses such as Arizona, Florida State, UCLA and Georgia to get there.
"It is exciting for us [to host Auburn], and there are not many people that can claim that because outside of SEC play, Auburn never travels," said Foti. "Their old operations manager was a friend of mine, and we were able to get this organized. I just spoke to coach Clint [Myers] down there, and they are pretty excited to come up and play."
The conference slate begins March 11 at home with a double-header against rival WKU. The Blue Raiders also host Florida International, UAB and Marshall later in the season. Middle also does its fair share of conference travel, as they will go to El Paso, Texas, to play UTEP for the first conference road games March 18-19. The Raiders also go on the road to play La Tech, Florida Atlantic and Charlotte this season.
"Conference will be tough this year," Foti said. "We play an unbalanced schedule, so we don't play everyone. Looking at schedules, we probably play the toughest schedule in our conference. We go to El Paso, which no one wins when you go to UTEP- it's really difficult. We play FIU, who was in the [conference] tournament last year, and La Tech, who was third in the west division. Then FAU, who went to regionals and came within a whisker of going to superregionals. UAB went to the [conference] tournament and was ranked in the top 20 at the start of preseason a few years back. Then finally, Marshall, who is perennial."
Middle will kick off the home schedule as they host Austin Peay March 1, and then host Belmont April 19 and Tennessee State April 26. The Raiders will travel to Austin Peay Feb. 21, Tennessee State March 22, UT Martin March 29 and Belmont April 5.
"It is always exciting to play your in-state rivals, even though we don't necessarily play in the same conferences," said Foti. "However, just the fact that we are all in and around Nashville, competing for similar recruits and obviously branding and publicity and stuff like that out there. So it's always fun to play the local teams, and it's easy on the travel for both teams and easy on the players."
The Blue Raiders will also host a pair of Alabama schools for non-conference doubleheaders this season. MT is slated to play Alabama State on April 12 and Alabama A&M on April 18.
Hattiesburg, Miss., will be the host of the C-USA Tournament again this season. It will take place May 11-13 and will feature the top eight teams in the standings.
Facility tour – Stephen and Denise Smith Student-Athlete Performance Center
Wednesday, July 30
Spring Sports Show hosted by The Boulevard – April 21, 2025: Softball and Baseball
Monday, April 21
MTSU Softball vs WKU Recap 4/11-13/25
Monday, April 14
MTSU Softball vs WKU Recap 4/11-13/25 2025
Monday, April 14
