Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Softball Releases 2018 Schedule
11/16/2017 10:00:00 AM | Softball
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee softball team and Head Coach Jeff Breeden announced the 2017 schedule Friday. The slate features four early-season tournaments, including a return to California and two in Florida. The Blue Raiders will also face some national softball powerhouses in UCLA and Kentucky.
Of the Blue Raiders, 34 opponents in 2018, 12 were post season teams from 2017. This year the Blue Raiders will face two who had deep runs in postseason tournament play. One is UCLA, who played in the Women's College World Series last year and the other is Kentucky, who was a Super Regional competitor. MT will also go up against Regional participants McNeese State, Kent State, La Tech, FIU and Marshall. Rounding out the postseason teams the Raiders will face are National Invitational Softball Championship competitors Cal Poly, Utah State, UT Martin, Campbell and WKU.
The Raiders will also go head-to-head with Power 5 opponents, Maryland and Rutgers of the Big 10 and Iowa State of the Big 12.
"We have tried to schedule a very high level early tournament portion of the schedule in 2018," said Breeden. "We feel like we will compete very well with these early Power 5 conference opponents. We understand that to win Conference USA you must be prepared to play at the highest level possible."
The Blue Raiders will kick-off the season in California at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament hosted by UCLA and Cal State Fullerton. MT will open the 2018 slate with a rematch against Cal Poly. Then later that day, the Raiders will face 12-time national champion UCLA for the first time in program history. Middle will also face Rutgers, Utah State, Maryland and UC Riverside at the tournament.
"We are looking forward to our trip to California in week one of the season," Breeden said. "UCLA is arguably the most storied program in college softball history. Playing them on day one of the season in their stadium will be big for our kids and the program. This will allow our players to play on a national stage on the first day of the 2018 season."
Three other tournaments are on the schedule for the Raiders including two in Florida. The Raiders will play at the EMU Madiera Beach Spring Invitational II hosted by Eastern Michigan on Feb. 23-25 as well as the Osprey Classic hosted by North Florida on March 2-4. MT will meet McNeese State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Marist, Rhode Island, Presbyterian College, North Florida, Campbell and Iowa State at the three-day events.
The Raiders will also make a trip to Montgomery, Ala. for the Black & Gold Tournament hosted by Alabama State on Feb. 16-18. MT also competed in this tournament during the 2016 season. During the 2018 event, the Raiders will face Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Akron, UT Martin and Nicholls State.
The Raiders have several other non-conference match-ups on the 2018 slate. One includes a big challenge in SEC and Super Regional competitor, Kentucky. The Wildcats will host the Raiders in two games on April 6-7.
"Our open date weekend match-up with Kentucky will pit us against one of the best teams in the SEC and a Super Regional team from 2017," said Breeden. "It will be a good mid-season battle for our girls."
The other non-conference matchups include Alabama A&M and Rhode Island. Both of those games will be home contests for the Blue Raiders on March 7 and 14, respectively.
Once again, the Raiders also renew their slate of in-state rivalry games. Middle will play two games, one home and one away, against Austin Peay, Belmont and Tennessee State. The first contest with Austin Peay will be the Blue Raiders home opener on Feb. 28. MT will also host a game with UT Martin on April 4 after going on the road to play the Skyhawks last season.
Conference play for the Blue Raiders gets underway on March 10 as MT hosts C-USA Tournament Champions, LA Tech. Middle will also host FAU, UTEP and Charlotte as the season goes on.
"Our C-USA schedule will open up at home with the 2017 conference champion, LA Tech," Breeden said. "As always the east side of our conference is loaded with great teams, and we will face them all. This season we also play UAB, UTEP and LA Tech from the west side of the conference."
The Raiders will also go on the road for several conference contests including a trip to 2017 Conference-USA regular season champs, Marshall in Huntington, W.V. on May 5-6 to close out the year. MT will also travel to play at UAB, FIU, and WKU over the 2018 schedule.
"2018 will be a challenging but exciting season for the Blue Raiders," said Breeden. "We look forward to competing with the Power 5 schools and then pushing toward a C-USA Tournament berth and beyond."
The Conference-USA Tournament will take place this season in Charlotte, N.C. on May 9-12. Hosted by the 49er's, it will feature the top three teams from the two divisions as well as the two next best teams overall.
Click here to see the full 2018 schedule.
