SAN ANTONIO – Head coach Michelle Cheatham and the UTSA softball program announced their 2018 schedule on Monday, Dec. 18. The slate includes seven NCAA championship qualifiers, including a home contest against Baylor, who reached the 2017 Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
"We are really excited about the strength of our schedule this spring," Cheatham said. "All of our pre-conference games will be played in the great state of Texas, which will allow our fan base to travel very well. We also are looking forward to some big home midweek games against Baylor and Texas this year and we are excited that we can bring these Big 12 opponents to Roadrunner Field. It will make for a tough nonconference schedule but it will prepare use for a competitive conference slate, where we anticipate hard-hitting, consistent softball."
UTSA will play 26 games at Roadrunner field this year, which includes the annual UTSA Softball Tournament and UTSA Softball Classic, midweek matchups against Baylor, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Texas State and Texas as well as Conference USA series against North Texas, Marshall, Southern Miss and Florida Atlantic.
Fans can purchase single-game and season tickets by visiting goUTSA.com or by calling the ticket office at (210) 458-UTSA (8872).
The Roadrunners open the season at home with back-to-back tournaments in February. Opening with the UTSA Softball Classic, UTSA hits the season off with an evening contest against Southern Illinois on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. The Roadrunners then challenge Abilene Christian and Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, before wrapping up opening weekend with a 2 p.m. game against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi on Sunday, February 11.
The Birds continue tournament action with the UTSA Softball Tournament. UTSA opens the tournament on Friday, Feb. 16, with afternoon games against Lamar and Kansas. Play continues on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against Prairie View A&M and a 7 p.m. contest against Missouri State. The Roadrunners conclude the tournament on Sunday, Feb. 18 with a second game against Prairie View A&M at 12:30 p.m.
UTSA stays at home with a Tuesday matchup against Baylor at 5:30 p.m. before heading to the Houston Classic Feb. 23-25. There, the Roadrunners will face UNLV, Yale, Syracuse and Houston.
The Roadrunners return home for the 2018 edition of the I-35 Rivalry as they welcome Texas State for 6 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Feb. 28.
Following the midweek matchup, UTSA travels to Lubbock for the Jeanne McHaney Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech. The Roadrunners open play against Bowling Green on Friday, March 2 followed by games against New Mexico and Texas Tech.
The Roadrunners continue with a home game against Texas on March 7, before heading to Florida to open Conference USA action with a series against FIU, March 10-11. UTSA rounds out its trip to the Sunshine State with games against UCF and Georgia Southern on March 13.
The following weekend UTSA hosts its first C-USA series of the year against North Texas, March 17-18.
UTSA follows with five-consecutive road games, starting with Texas State on Wednesday, March 28 before facing UTEP, March 30-31 and Texas, April 4 at 6 p.m.
The Roadrunners return to the Alamo City for a C-USA series against Marshall, April 7-8, before visiting cross-city foe Incarnate Word on Wednesday, April 11.
The second half of C-USA play begins with a three-game stint at La Tech, April 14-15 and then the Roadrunners return home for contest against Houston Baptist on April 17. On Saturday, April 21, UTSA opens a three-game series against Southern Miss at Roadrunner Field.
The Roadrunners stay at home to welcome Incarnate Word for its last nonconference contest on April 25, before visiting UAB for a league series, April 28-29.
UTSA closes out the regular season with a three-game series at home against FAU, May 5-6.
Qualifying teams will travel to Charlotte, N.C., and the campus of Charlotte, the following week for the 2018 C-USA Tournament. The eight-team tournament begins on Wednesday May 9 and concludes with the C-USA Tournament Championship Saturday, May 12.
The NCAA tournament selection show will take place on Sunday, May 13 with the NCAA Tournament beginning that following weekend with 64 teams playing across 16 regional sites.
For the latest information on the team visit goUTSA.com and follow the Roadrunners @UTSASoftball on Twitter, UTSA_Softball on Instagram and UTSA Softball on Facebook.
UTSA Softball releases 2018 schedule
