Texas softball releases 2020 spring schedule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texas softball releases challenging 2020 spring schedule

Longhorns are set to play 27 total games against 17 teams that reached the 2019 NCAA Field of 64

AUSTIN, Texas – Coming off a 2019 season that ended just one win short of a berth in the annual Women’s College World Series, the Texas softball program and head coach Mike White are pleased to announce their challenging 2020 spring schedule.

Official game times and TV designations will be released at a later date.

Along the way, the Longhorns will face off against five of last season’s Women’s College World Series participants in Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA and Washington. UT will also battle seven NCAA Super Regional qualifiers (Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCLA and Washington) and will contest 27 total games against 17 squads that earned bids to the NCAA Field of 64 (Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCLA, Washington, Houston, Lipscomb, Boise State, BYU, Louisiana-Lafayette, Colorado State, North Dakota State, Texas Tech, Michigan and Weber State).

During its scheduled 56-game regular-season slate, the Burnt Orange & White will leave the “Lone Star State” five times with out-of-state trips scheduled for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Los Angeles/Fullerton, Calif., Tuscaloosa, Ala., Norman, Okla., and Ames, Iowa.

The 2020 season officially kicks-off at Red & Charline McCombs Field as the Longhorns host their annual Texas Classic (Feb. 6-9) against Wichita State, Maryland, Lamar, Colorado State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The first road trip of the campaign takes the Longhorns back to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the second time in the last three years to participate in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge (Feb. 13-15). During a three-day stay at Nancy Almaraz Stadium, Texas will face Cal Baptist, Utah, Tennessee, the Mexican Olympic Team (exhibition) and Ole Miss.

The Longhorns return home on Feb. 19 for a mid-week match-up against North Texas before hosting the Texas Invitational against Lipscomb, North Dakota State, Duke and Weber State over Feb. 21-23.

Following a high-profile, mid-week doubleheader against Louisiana-Lafayette (Feb. 25), the Burnt Orange & White venture to Los Angeles, Calif., to battle defending national champion UCLA (Feb. 27) at Easton Stadium before continuing on to the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., to face Washington, Fresno State, Michigan and Boise State from Feb. 28-March 1.

UT then wings its way back to Austin to host the Longhorn Invitational from March 6-8 against Liberty, Texas Southern and New Mexico, before taking to the road for the last time before opening league play with a trip to Tuscaloosa over March 13-15 for the T-Town Showdown against Bryant, BYU and Alabama.

The Longhorns are slated to open the rugged Big 12 Conference slate on the road at defending league champion Oklahoma (March 20-22). Addition league road series during the 2020 campaign include trips to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State (April 17-19) and to Waco, Texas, to battle Baylor (May 2-3).

UT will host Big 12 series against Texas Tech (April 3-5), Kansas (April 9-11) and Oklahoma State (April 24-26) as well as a single league match-up against Baylor (April 22) as part of the two teams’ annual split series.

Several additional non-conference contests are also on the docket over the remainder of the regular season. Included are home tilts versus UT Arlington (March 25) and Stephen F. Austin (April 7) as well as a road doubleheader at Houston (April 1) and a single game at Texas State (April 15).

The postseason begins with the annual Big 12 Tournament at the USA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., over May 8-9.

The NCAA Tournament schedule gets underway at campus sites over May 14-17 with NCAA Regionals and follows with the best-of-three NCAA Super Regionals over May 21-24. The annual Women’s College World Series at the USA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla., is scheduled to be contested from May 28-June 3.

Season ticket renewals are available (deadline for renewal is Dec. 4) for fans who had season tickets for the 2019 campaign. Those interested in renewing their season tickets for 2020 can do so by visiting their account online at TexasSports.com/tickets, calling Texas Athletics at 512-471-3333, or visiting the Sandeep Soni Ticket Office in Bellmont Hall.

Those interested in becoming new season ticket holders for the 2020 season can now submit a season ticket deposit for $59 (per seat) and select your seats for the upcoming campaign, based on your Loyalty Points rank. For more information, please contact Texas Athletics at 512-471-3333.

Source- Texas Athletics

Pitt softball announces 2020 non-conference schedule


Pitt Begins Spring Season on the Road

PITTSBURGH – Returning for her second season as head coach of the University of Pittsburgh softball team, Jodi Hermanek has announced the Panthers’ 2020 non-conference schedule.

Pitt’s non-conference schedule features one team that finished in the top 25 of the NFCA Coaches Poll, including No. 1 UCLA, who won the College World Series a year ago. The Panthers’ lineup consists of 25 games with 18 on the road and four tournament appearances in the UCLA Tournament, ACC/B1G Challenge, ECU Tournament and Campbell Tournament.

The 2020 squad will open the season with three consecutive road tournaments. First, the Panthers will travel to Los Angeles, Calif., for the UCLA Tournament, where they will face off against CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 7), Cal Poly (Feb. 7), San Diego (Feb. 8), and UCLA (Feb. 8-9). This tournament marks the first time in program history the Panthers meet with CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly. Pitt and San Diego will meet for the third time to break a 1-1 series tie, while the Bruins have won once against the Panthers in 2012.

Pitt will then head to Clemson University, one of five host sites for the ACC/B1G Challenge (Feb. 14-16). The Panthers will be competing against both Michigan State (Feb. 14, 15) and Maryland (Feb. 15, 16) twice in Clemson, S.C. The Panthers lead the all-time series with Michigan State, 3-0, as Maryland leads Pitt, 3-8.

Next up, the Panthers will travel to Greenville, N.C. to compete in the East Carolina University Tournament (Feb. 21-23). Pitt will face off against UMass (Feb. 21, 22), Towson (Feb. 22), and host university, ECU (Feb. 21, 23). Pitt and the Pirates have not met since the Panthers traveled to Greenville in 2017.

The Panthers will continue their road stretch in Greenville, S.C. for the second time to matchup against Furman (March 10), where the Panthers lead the Pirates 1-0 all-time. Following, Pitt will visit UNC Charlotte (March 11) before heading to its last non-conference tournament.

Pitt’s last tournament will be played in Buies Creek, N.C., where the squad will compete in the Campbell Tournament (Feb. 13-14). The Panthers will meet Saint Joseph’s University (Feb. 13, 14) twice while matching up with host school Campbell (Feb. 13, 14) twice, as well. SJU comes to the tournament after completing their first winning season since 2015, falling to the top seed in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship last spring.

The Panthers will visit longtime rival Penn State (March 18) for another midweek matchup. The Panthers and Nittany Lions met twice last season where Pitt was successful in UCF’s Knight Classic (Feb 24), but fell to Penn State once in the regular season (March 27). Pitt will then travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes (March 24). Ohio State was victorious in the last meeting and leads the Panthers, 4-14.

The Panthers will play their first non-conference home contest in a doubleheader against St. Francis (PA) (April 1). This will be the first meeting of the teams since fall play, where the Panthers split a doubleheader with the Red Flash, losing one game, 6-7, and winning the second, 6-0 (Oct. 5).

Following, Robert Morris and Kent State will travel to Vartabedian Field for back-to-back home games (April 7, 10). The Panthers were victorious twice against the Colonials in fall ball (Oct. 12), as the Golden Flashes lead Pitt, 13-14, in the series. The Panthers will visit Kent, Ohio five days later for another contest against the Golden Flashes.

Pitt will host Northern Kentucky for the first time in program history for two contests (April 25, 26), before closing out non-conference play at home against Cleveland State (April 29). Pitt leads the Vikings 12-3 all-time, winning the last matchup in 2004.

Returning for the Panthers are seniors Walker Barbee, Alexee Haynes, Kaitlyn Kruger, and Connor McGaffic, redshirt junior Brittany Knight, juniors Morgan Batesole, Brie Horrell, Hunter Levesque, and Chandler Walter, and sophomores Hannah Bach, Abby Edwards, Katlyn Pavlick, and Sarah Seamans.

One of Pitt’s most notable returners is Levesque, who earned All-ACC Second Team honors. In her second year as a Panther at center field, Levesque complied a team-best .322 batting average and a .611 slugging percentage. The Troy, N.Y. native also picked up National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second Team honors in May 2019.

The Panthers also welcome seven newcomers to the team in transfers redshirt sophomore Jada Crittendon and junior Loo Sanchez, as well as freshmen Hope Alley, Kayla Lane, Taegen Lewellen, Becca Miller, and Makenzie Stiles. Crittendon comes to the Panthers following two years at Virginia Tech, while Sanchez spent the past two seasons at Mercer.

Source- University of Pittsburgh Media Relations

Transfer Portal ruining softball?

In October 2018, the NCAA changed the rules making it much easier for players to transfer to another team. No longer do the athletes need to seek permission from their school and/or coach to transfer. Also no longer can schools or coaches block undergraduates from transferring to certain schools. All players need to do now is enter their name in the transfer portal that’s been created and wait to be contacted by any schools/coaches interested in having them on their team.

As of right now there are several hundred softball players listed in the softball transfer portal most are names you probably wouldn’t recognize but there also has been a constant lists of, ‘star players,’ showing up on the list.

In my opinion the easing of the transfer rules has created a big problem. The best example of it is how Oregon went from being a 53-10 team in 2018 and almost a lock to make the 2019 playoffs with most of its players returning to a 22-30 team in 2019 largely due to losing a mass of players via the transfer portal. To me the transfer portal has become an online shopping channel for athletes looking to find a team that has the best chance of winning a championship. While that is a goal any athlete strives to achieve what about loyalty to your team and school. How about abandoning the school that gave you a chance to become that star player. Also what about the education part didn’t you choose a school because of their academics too?

It reminds me of the Beach Boys song, “Be True To Your School,” the third track found on their, ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ album.

The song’s chorus goes like this:

[Chorus]
So be true to your school now
Just like you would to your girl or guy
Be true to your school now
And let your colors fly
Be true to your school

While college softball is growing with record numbers in both game attendance and tv ratings most fans have a favorite team and favorite player on that team and are turned off by a revolving door of players coming and going constantly.

The transfer portal also favors the big schools giving them the chance to cherry pick star players from smaller schools.

Those are my thoughts on the transfer portal rules but I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you think its a good thing for softball.