UC Riverside head softball coach Connie MIner announced today that the UCR softball team will play 17 games against NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, including three three-game series against Big West Conference foes Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, and Long Beach State.
View complete schedule.
The Highlanders open the season with a trio of games against San Diego on Feb. 13-14, then travel to Palo Alto, CA for the Stanford Nike Invitational. At Stanford, four of UCR's five opponents over the three-day span are 2009 NCAA tournament squads: Stanford, Illinois, Fresno State, and Nevada.
UC Riverside then heads to San Antonio, TX for the UTSA Invitational from Feb. 26-28, and returns home on Mar. 3 for a single game against NCAA tournament participant UCLA at Amy S. Harrison Field.
The game against the Bruins is the first of 15 consecutive home games for the Highlanders as they host the aTEN Construction Tournament from Mar. 5-7 and the Amy S. Harrison Classic on Mar. 12-14, while closing out their home stand with doubleheaders against CSU Bakersfield and Utah on Mar. 22 and 23 respectively.
Teams competing in the aTEN Construction Tournament include East Tennesse State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish and the Buckeyes both participated in the NCAA tournament a year ago.
UC Riverside then travels to Davis, CA for the Aggie Stampede on Mar. 26-28 to conclude non-conference play.
The Highlanders begin the Big West portion of their schedule at Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton on the weekends of Apr. 2 and 10 respectively before hosting their first conference game against UC Santa Barbara on Apr. 17.
UC Riverside concludes their regular-season schedule with a three-game series at Long Beach State on May 14-15.