(Update 1-6-22: Pitt has announced their opponents in the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament in Leesburg, Fla., Feb. 11-13. The Panthers will open up the tournament against Penn State Friday, Feb. 11 at 9:30 a.m. followed by a 12:45 p.m. first pitch versus Akron the same day. Saturday the 12th sees the Panthers play UConn at 10:30 a.m. and Merrimack at 1 p.m. followed by one game Sunday, Feb. 13 versus Michigan State at 11:30 a.m. to close out the tournament.)

Pitt head coach Jodi Hermanek has announced the Panthers upcoming spring schedule.

The season gets rolling for the Panthers with the Northern Lights Southern Nights Tournament in Leesburg, Florida that starts on Feb. 11th and runs through Sunday, Feb. 13 . Teams that will participate in this year’s tournament include, Eastern Kentucky, Hofstra, Liberty, Michigan State, Northwestern, UConn, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa and Virginia Tech. Pitt’s tournament opponents and game times have not been announced yet.

Other tournaments the team will participate in include:

1.Pitt will travel to College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M Tournament Feb. 18-19. The 18th will see the Panthers play Missouri State (9 a.m.) and Stephen F. Austin (7 p.m.) and the 19th Kansas (11:30 a.m.) and host school Texas A&M (2 p.m.).

2.Then be in Spartanburg, S.C., for the USC Upstate Tournament Feb. 25-27. The Panthers open the tournament versus Tennessee Tech (11 a.m.) and Cleveland State (5 p.m.) on the 25th, followed by Tennessee Tech (11 a.m.) and host school USC Upstate (1 p.m.) the 26th. The tournament concludes with Pitt versus Cleveland State at 11 a.m. on the 27th.

3.Finally Pitt will conclude tournament play in Nashville, Tenn., for the Lady Bison Classic hosted by Lipscomb March 11-13. March 11th sees Pitt play Bowling Green (2:30 p.m.) and Lipscomb (5 p.m.) followed by Houston Baptist (10 a.m.) and Bowling Green (12:30 p.m.) on March 12th. The Panthers finish play with Houston Baptist at 12 p.m. Sunday the 13th.

The Panthers’ first home game is on March 16th (a mid-week game) when in-state rivals Penn State visits Pittsburgh. It will mark the first time since March 27, 2019 that the two schools softball team’s have played.

Pitt starts ACC play on the road against powerhouse Florida State March 4-6. Panther fans will also get to see Clemson play when they come to town for the first time in school history April 8-10. The Tigers are coming off of a terrific 2021 season that earned Clemson their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“This team is fired up and ready for the 2022 season to get underway,” said Hermanek. “This season is special because it brings us back to a traditional softball schedule [pre-Covid] where we get to max our game count, travel to some awesome venues to compete in and get back to a competitive ACC 3-day, 3-game series. It’s even more special because we are the hosting site for the 2022 ACC Championship tournament, right here in The City of Champions.”

Pitt hosting the ACC Championship Tournament will be the first time in program history. The ACC teams who finish top-10 in the regular season standings will visit Vartabedian Field beginning May 11th with the Championship game concluding May 14th. Further venue and ticket information for the ACC Championship will be posted on Pitt’s website at a later date.

The 2022 season includes season-ticket packages for all Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) contests at Vartabedian Field. To purchase season tickets for the upcoming season you can visit pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/softball

Single-game ACC contests will be sold separately and will be available to purchase in February.
All non-conference week-day games (Penn State, Saint Francis, Robert Morris) are free to the public.
Tickets for the ACC Championship Tournament May 11-14 will be available to purchase at a later date.

Thanks to the University of Pittsburgh Media Relations for information used in this post.