Upstate Softball Announces its 2024 Schedule Featuring 24 Games at Cyrill Stadium and Seven Games Against Power Five Opponents
12/5/2023 10:30:00 AM | Softball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - USC Upstate softball is eager to get back to business as head coach Chris Hawkins and the Spartan softball staff announce the 2024 season schedule which includes 24 home games, 26 road games, seven games against Power Five opponents, and two tournaments hosted at Cyrill Stadium.  Â
Coach Hawkins expressed his excitement for the upcoming 2024 season saying, "Our schedule this year will be very challenging! We look forward to playing seven Power Five games and a much higher strength of schedule. Hopefully this will prepare us to do well against Big South competition and get back to regional play. We're young but we can embrace the challenge that will be the 2024 season".Â
The Spartans gear up for the 2024 season after they finished third in the Big South with a 13-8 Big South record and a 38-17 overall record. Upstate collected six All-Conference honors as well as one Big South honorable mention and one All-Academic selection. Â
Upstate will kick off the 2024 season hosting the annual Spartan Classic, bringing Loyola University Chicago, Towson, Toledo, and S.C. State to Spartanburg Feb. 9-11. The Spartans will stay close for the first road games of the 2024 season to play against Binghamton University, Monmouth University, Le Moyne College, and Mount St. Mary's (Md.) Feb. 16-17 in the Winthrop Eagle Classic. Â
After the short road trip, the Spartans return home to host Wofford College for the very first time on Feb. 21. Upstate remains at Cyrill Stadium to hold the annual Wings Etc. Classic Feb. 23-25 where the Spartans will take on Monmouth University once again, before taking on SEC competitor Kentucky and Mid-American competitor Akron.  Â
Following the completion of the Wings Etc. Tournament, Upstate heads to Alabama to play the University of North Texas, Northwestern University, and SEC competitor Auburn University twice in the Auburn University Tournament Mar. 1-3. The Spartans take a break from the tournaments but remain on the road to play yet another SEC competitor, as USC Upstate takes on South Carolina in Columbia in a mid-week match (Mar. 6). Upstate caps its tournaments for the 2024 season with the UNF Tournament Mar. 8-10 where it will face off against Tarleton State University, the University of North Florida, and Jacksonville University.Â
With tournaments done, Upstate will weave in-and-out of conference play with Big South play commencing Mar. 15-16 as Upstate hosts the Highlanders of Radford University. Upstate steps away from conference play to take a trip down the road to play Wofford for the last time in the 2024 season on Mar. 20. The Spartans will resume conference play along the coast of South Carolina against the Bucs of Charleston Southern University on Mar. 22-23. March will close out with a doubleheader at home Mar. 27 against the Paladins of Furman University. Â
April will see the Spartans take on two Big South competitors as the Lancers of Longwood University make the trip to Spartanburg Apr. 6-7 and the Runnin' Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb come to Cyrill Stadium Apr. 19-20. Upstate will make the quick trip to Clinton to play Presbyterian College Apr. 12-13 and cap the regular season May 4-5 against Winthrop in Rock Hill. The Spartans face three non-conference competitors in April starting with a double-header against the Catamounts of Western Carolina on Apr. 9. For the fourth consecutive season, Upstate will venture to Athens to play a single game against SEC competitor, Georgia. South Carolina State will be Upstate's final non-conference match which is set to be a doubleheader on Apr. 24.Â
The Big South Softball Championship will see the top four teams in the conference compete May 9-13 in Rock Hill, S.C.   Â
The full schedule is available here: 2024 Softball Schedule - University of South Carolina - Upstate (upstatespartans.com)Â
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