SAN ANTONIO - The three-time defending Southland Conference (SLC) Champion UTSA softball team released its 2007 schedule on Thursday, highlighted by the first night game at Roadrunner Field, a March 8 date with Women’s College World Series participant Texas.
“We are very excited about the schedule we have put together this year,” second-year head coach Lori Cook said. “We know we will be tested early and often. This team has a lot of veterans coming off a great year, as well as eight newcomers that will make an immediate impact. The non-conference part of our schedule will give us the opportunity to compete with some of the best teams in the nation and prepare us for Southland Conference play. We are also looking forward to the first game ever under the lights at Roadrunner Field against the University of Texas.”
The Roadrunners open the 2007 season against a tough field at the CenturyTel Softball Classic on Feb. 9-11 in San Marcos. UTSA debuts against Oklahoma State on Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. and also plays Texas State and Alabama in the three-day tournament.
UTSA stays in state for the Aggie Classic the following weekend in College Station, facing Texas A&M and Rutgers twice and Arkansas. The Roadrunners then travel west for the Softball By The Beach Invitational in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Feb. 23-25, where they face UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Northern Illinois.
UTSA begins defense of three consecutive SLC crowns with a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 27-28 before hosting Texas-Arlington in a three-game set in the home opener on March 3-4. The Roadrunners step out of conference play with a home game against St. John’s on March 6, followed by the first regular season game under the lights at Roadrunner Field, a 6 p.m. contest against Texas on March 8.
The rest of the schedule features home league series with Central Arkansas (March 17-18), Nicholls State (March 24-25), Northwestern State (April 14-15) and Sam Houston State (April 28-29) and road SLC sets at Southeastern Louisiana (March 10-11), Texas State (March 31-April 1), Stephen F. Austin (April 21-22) and McNeese State (May 5-6).
UTSA has non-conference road games with a pair of perennial powers at LSU on March 13, at Texas on March 22 and a doubleheader at Baylor on March 28. The Roadrunners also host Texas Tech in a non-conference twinbill on March 15.
The Southland Conference Tournament will be hosted by Sam Houston State on May 10-12 in Huntsville, Texas.
