Softball Announces 2011 Schedule
9/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 16, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Twenty-six home games and nine contests against teams that appeared in the NCAA Tournament last season highlight the 2011 Southern Miss softball schedule, released by head coach Howard Dobson on Thursday.
In the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Golden Eagles host two home tournaments in addition to traveling to Auburn and Cal State Fullerton for tournaments.
"The 2011 schedule is going to be the toughest schedule since I've been here," Dobson said. "We host two tournaments at home with very good competition and then we go on the road for two tournaments, one at Auburn and one at Cal State-Fullerton."
In Southern Miss' 54-game schedule, it faces nine teams that made it to the NCAA Regionals last year and one team that advanced to Super Regionals.
"Auburn being an SEC school is going to be good competition for us," said Dobson. "At Auburn we also play McNeese State which was a NCAA Regional team after winning the Southland Conference last year. We head out to Cal State Fullerton where we play three PAC-10 teams. Just those games alone will be a good test for us."
The Golden Eagles will be tested from the early with contests against South Alabama, two NCAA Tournament teams in Auburn and McNeese State and both in-state rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
The first home contest of 2010 is Saturday, Feb. 12, when the Golden Eagles open with the season with the Mizuno Classic followed by a game against South Alabama. The Classic field includes Central Arkansas, Southern University and Kennesaw State.
Southern Miss travels to the Auburn Tournament in Auburn, Ala., and the following weekend returns to the Southern Miss Softball Complex for the Southern Miss Invitational that include Nicholls State, Mississippi Valley State, Evansville and Troy. The Golden Eagles face Ole Miss in Ridgeland, Miss., before heading west for the Cal State Fullerton DeMarini Tournament where USM will face Pac-10 powers Stanford, Oregon State and California. The Eagles will also play Cal State-Northridge, Murray State and IPFW while there.
"Six games against SEC opponents counting the Auburn game, Mississippi State twice, Ole Miss once and LSU twice will happen before we start conference," Dobson said. ".
Southern Miss continues its non-conference schedule with games against Alcorn State and SEC power LSU at home Mar. 10 and 16, respectively.
The Golden Eagles open Conference USA play on the road with a series against UAB, Mar. 19-20. The team returns home to play Jackson State in a mid-week double-header before hosting Houston, Mar. 26-27.
Southern Miss returns a trip to South Alabama, Mar. 30, before a home series with East Carolina, April 2-3 is followed a game against Mississippi State, in Madison, Miss (April 6).
Road trips to Tulsa, April 9-10, and Nicholls State, April 13, are next on the schedule before Southern Miss plays a series with UTEP, April 16-17. The Golden Eagles will play the next seven games on the road at Marshall (April 22-23), at LSU (April 27) and at UCF (April 30-May 1).
Softball's regular season schedule wraps up with a mid-week game against Southeastern Louisiana (May 4) and a weekend series against Memphis (May 7-8).
The C-USA Championship is scheduled for May 12-14 in Greenville, N.C., with the top eight teams advancing to the tournament.
"We brought in seven newcomers, six freshmen and one transfer," Dobson said. "We're experienced, but also have some shoes to fill with last year's seniors. We brought in some pretty good talent who need to be tested right out of the gate. We are interested in trying to get ourselves into regional play, trying to do well in our conference, win Conference USA and get ourselves into postseason. And in order for us to do that we have to get our RPI up. We're real excited about our schedule. It's going to be a test for them, one that's going to be tough but it's something that we're capable of. That way we are prepared when conference starts."
The complete schedule follows: Feb. 12-13, Southern Miss Mizuno Classic; 16, South Alabama; 18-20, at Auburn Tournament; 23, at Mississippi State; 25-27, Southern Miss Invitational; Mar. 2, Ole Miss (Ridgeland, Miss.); 4-6, Cal State Fullerton DeMarini Tournament; 10, Alcorn State; 16, LSU; 19-20, at UAB (three-game series); 23, Jackson State (DH); 26-27, Houston (three-game series); 30, at South Alabama; April 2-3, East Carolina (three-game series); 6, Mississippi State; 9-10, at Tulsa (three-game series); 13, at Nicholls State; 16-17, UTEP (three-game series); 22-23, at Marshall (three-game series); 27, at LSU; 30-May 1, at UCF (three-game series); 4, Southeastern Louisiana; 7-8, Memphis (three-game series).