Upstate Softball Releases 2018 Schedule
9/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Spartanburg, S.C. – Coming off its fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, USC Upstate associate athletic director and head softball coach Chris Hawkins has announced this afternoon that the Spartans will play a 54-game schedule for the upcoming 2018 season.
Upstate's 2018 schedule will once again feature a tough slate of ASUN games and a non-conference schedule against several marquee programs. The Spartans are slated to face Power 5 teams Indiana, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, N.C. State, Duke, Georgia and South Carolina. Upstate will play Indiana, North Carolina and South Carolina at Cyrill Stadium.
"I think we have a very competitive schedule this year," Hawkins said. "We play a lot of Power 5 schools. Our team is seasoned and ready for the challenge. Every year the road to an automatic bid is hard but we have the schedule to do it."
Eight opponents on the Spartans schedule in 2018 appeared in an NCAA Regional last season with those teams being Fairfield, Marshall, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, East Tennessee State, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Upstate is scheduled to play in four tournaments early in the season in preparation for ASUN Conference play, and is hosting three of those tournaments. After opening the season with a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb on Feb. 8, the Spartans will host the Upstate Classic (Feb. 16-18), Spartan Classic (Feb. 23-25) and Buffalo Wild Wings Classic (Mar. 2-4). In between the three tournaments, Upstate travels to Charlotte for a doubleheader on Feb. 20 and host Furman in a doubleheader on Feb. 28.
The Spartans play in their final tournament the weekend of Mar. 9-11 when they travel to Tucson, Ariz. to compete in a tournament hosted by Arizona.
Following the conclusion of tournament play, Upstate plays ten non-conference games with eight taking place on the road and two at Cyrill Stadium. The eight non-conference road games consist of N.C. State (Mar. 27), Duke (Mar. 28), Western Carolina (Apr. 4), Georgia (Apr. 18) and East Tennessee State (Apr. 26). The two home games are made up of North Carolina on Mar. 14 and South Carolina on Apr. 25.
The Spartans will host three ASUN series at home and hit the road three times in league play. Upstate opens conference play at home against Kennesaw State Mar. 17-18 before playing host to Florida Gulf Coast Mar. 30-31 and Jacksonville 14-15. The Spartans have three conference road series scheduled at Lipscomb Mar. 24-25, North Florida Apr. 7-8 and Stetson Apr. 21-22.
The 2018 ASUN Softball Championship will be hosted by Stetson in DeLand, Fla. May 8-11.
Upstate has won seven conference championships in the last five years, taking the ASUN Tournament titles in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and the ASUN Regular Season championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017. The success has culminated in five consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament from 2013-17, playing in the Tuscaloosa Regional (2013-15), Auburn Regional (2016) and Knoxville Regional (2017).
The Spartans finished last season with a 45-13 overall record and went 14-4 in ASUN play. A total of 13 players return from last year's team including six starters. The team also welcomes a total of 11 newcomers to the 2018 roster.
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