University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball Announces 2024 Schedule
1/10/2024 10:00:00 AM | Softball
HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The Southern Miss Softball program and head coach Natalie Poole announced the schedule for the upcoming 2024 season on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The Golden Eagles will play 53 games total, including 16 at the Southern Miss Softball Complex and 37 games on the road, with the season beginning Feb. 9 in Jacksonville, Fla.
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"We are anxiously awaiting the start of the season," Poole said. "We expect to be on the road for the first four of five weekends in the preseason and will play in tournaments at the University of Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Mississippi State and North Alabama. We will open up at home on February 17-18 with a three-game series versus Missouri State and look forward to playing in front of our home crowd."
ÂPoole will begin her second season leading the Golden Eagles at the University of North Florida-Jacksonville University Tournament, where Southern Miss will face Fordham, North Florida, Jacksonville University and James Madison on Feb. 9-11. The tournament will mark the first time the Golden Eagles have opened the season on the road since 2018.Â
ÂSouthern Miss will return home for the #Goldblooded Opening Day Classic with three games against Missouri State on Feb. 17 and 18 before embarking on a 16-game road stretch.Â
ÂThe Golden Eagles head on the road to Jacksonville, Ala. for the Jacksonville State Cocky Classic on Feb. 23-25, playing a total of five games against Southern Indiana, Jacksonville State, Belmont and Samford. Southern Miss will then participate in the Bulldog Invitational in Starkville, Miss., starting on Feb. 29 through March 2, where the team will compete against Mississippi State and play two games each against Samford and Alcorn.
ÂBefore making a trip to Florence, Ala., for the North Alabama Tournament on March 8-10, Southern Miss will compete against Southeastern Louisiana in a midweek matchup in Hammond, La. March 6.
Southern Miss then returns home to host with a home ULM on March 15-17, launching the program's second season of conference play in the Sun Belt.
"The Sun Belt will be challenging as expected. The Sun Belt finished sixth in the nation in RPI last season," Poole said. "We are and will be working hard to be a contender in this conference and advance the program."
ÂAfter traveling to Thibodeux, La. for a midweek matchup versus Nicholls State on March 20, the Golden Eagles welcome Marshall for another home series from March 22-24.
ÂSouthern Miss then has a quick turnaround to a doubleheader at UAB in Birmingham, Ala. on Tuesday, March 26 before heading to Troy for the first road Sun Belt series of the season on March 28-30.Â
ÂThe Golden Eagles begin April back in Hattiesburg with another midweek contest against Nicholls State on April 3, and then will make the furthest trip of the year to Conway, S.C., to play Coastal Carolina April 5-7.
ÂSouthern Miss then faces a midweek test against another Southeastern Conference in-state opponent, Ole Miss, on April 10 in Oxford, Miss. This season's schedule marks the first time since 2021 that the Golden Eagles will play both the Rebels and Bulldogs.
Â"We are pleased to have Ole Miss and Mississippi State on the schedule this year, as we didn't get to play them last year," Poole said.
ÂThe Golden Eagles will then prepare to host Georgia State April 12-14 before making the trip to Lafayette, La., to take on the four-time defending Sun Belt champions in the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns April 19-21.Â
ÂSouthern Miss hosts its final home series of the season versus Texas State on April 26-28 before wrapping up the regular season in Mobile, Ala., against conference foe South Alabama May 2-4.
ÂThe Sun Belt Conference Tournament will take place over four days in San Marcos, Texas from May 8-11.
ÂFans can purchase their season tickets at the link below. https://southernmisstickets.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetGroupList?groupCode=SOFT&linkID=usm&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=
ÂFor the latest information on Golden Eagle Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB), and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
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