Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Softball Announces 2009 Schedule
11/5/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Nov. 5, 2008
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - After just a hand full of home games in 2008 head coach Shonda Stanton and the Marshall University Softball program announced today the 2009 schedule which features 24 home games including an early season tournament.
"We have a much more balanced schedule in terms of home contests due to our facility," Stanton said. "For the first time since 2004, we are able to host a tournament in early March and play almost half of our games at home in front of our fans at Dot Hicks Field."
This upcoming seasons schedule will feature 12 opponents that qualified for NCAA regionals and three of those that advanced to Super Regionals or further.
Before hosting its own tournament, Marshall will compete in four other tournaments starting off with the Sportco Kickoff Classic hosted by UNLV. The first game of the season against Seton Hall will mark Stanton's 500th game at the helm of Marshall softball. The team will also clash with host UNLV and UIC.
After that the Thundering Herd will head south to Tampa to compete in USF's Wilson Tournament where the team will open us against Women's College World Series participant Arizona. The Wildcats picked up a pair of victories over Marshall in 2008. The team will face two regionals qualifying teams; Hofstra and South Florida.
The team will then hit the road for a return to Athens, Ga. in which Stanton will face her alma mater UNC Greensboro and her first school as a head coach, IUPUI. She spent one season with the Jaguars before coming to Marshall.
Marshall will wrap up road tournament play with a trip to Knoxville to play in the Tennessee Classic with match-ups against Bowling Green, Winthrop, James Madison and Tennessee.
"We will have the opportunity to be challenged early against nationally recognized programs, which is always a welcome test for our players," Stanton said.
From March 6 through the 8, the Herd will host its first tournament since the 2004 season. The tournament will feature Canisius, Delaware and former MAC opponent Buffalo.
In non-conference action, Marshall will take on five opponents in doubleheaders with four of those contests being played at Dot Hicks Field. Home non-conference games include Cleveland State, Radford, Miami (OH) and Morehead State. The team's lone non-conference road trip will pit the Herd against the Ohio Bobcats in late April.
The Herd will once again fight to be atop of the very competitive Conference USA. The team will face tough road games with trips to regular season champions Houston and tournament champion UCF.
"C-USA softball is on the rise with competitive league play each and every weekend," Stanton said. "We have a balanced schedule that will prepare us for such action."
Marshall will open up the first two weekend of C-USA play at home against UTEP and Southern Miss. The team will also host Memphis and East Carolina with other trips to Tulsa and UAB. This season's C-USA tournament will take place in El Paso, Texas and hosted by UTEP.
Click here for complete 2009 schedule
