Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State Softball Releases 2008 Schedule
11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Nov. 19, 2007
2008 Schedule
East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State Unviersity softball head coach Jacquie Joseph announced her schedule for the 2008 campaign today. The schedule will feature 14 schools that reached the 2007 NCAA Division I Championship, including Baylor and Northwestern, who both advanced to the Women's College World Series.
"This is a typical schedule for us, since I have been part of the program," said Joseph. "I believe in playing the best to become the best. It is ambitious and with out question, sets us up to compete for a Big Ten Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. When you can feature 14 schools that made the NCAAs last season, most of which in the first month of the season, it allows us to see where we stand right away."
The Spartans start the season with six out-of-state tournaments, beginning with the Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Fla. from February 15-17. The Green and White swing into action on February 15 against UAB at 12:15 p.m. (ET), while also facing NCAA participant and host Florida State (Feb. 17), Bethune Cookman (Feb. 16) and Jacksonville (Feb. 16) in their first of three trips to Florida.
MSU returns to competition from February 22-24 at the Palm Springs Classic in Palm Springs, Calif, facing four teams that made the 2007 NCAAs in their five games, highlighted by two teams that moved onto the Super Regionals. The tournament begins for the Spartans on February 22 with match ups against UNLV and Super Regional participant Cal State Fullerton. On the 23rd, MSU will square off with a pair of NCAA teams, Oregon and Hawaii, the latter which advanced to the Super Regionals. The Classic will conclude for the Spartans with NCAA qualifier Massachusetts on the 24th.
Michigan State travels South for spring break, starting with the Georgia Classic in Athens. The tournament, which is scheduled for March 1-2, will feature a pair of games against host and NCAA participant Georgia, along with single games with Longwood and Butler. Following the Georgia Classic, the Spartans will face Saint Joseph's (Pa.) in a doubleheader set on March 4 in Clearwater, Fla, before beginning play in the USF-Under Armour Invitational (March 6-9), also in Clearwater. The Invitational begins with round-robin play against WCWS participant Baylor, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee State, Hofstra and Illinois-Chicago on March 6-8. Games will continue on the 8th and 9th with championship bracket play, featuring the tournament's four pools.
The early season tournaments conclude with the Stetson Tournament in DeLand, Fla. on March 15-16 and the Best Western Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio on March 22-23. At Stetson, the Spartans will face Bowling Green twice, Elon and the host Hatters, while in Oxford, MSU will square-off with the host RedHawks, Toledo, Youngstown State and conference rival Penn State.
The 2008 home debut at Old College Field is scheduled for Tuesday, March 25 at 3 p.m. against Bowling Green. That single game is the precursor for the beginning of the Big Ten portion of their schedule which will kick off that weekend. On Friday, March 28, Minnesota comes to East Lansing for the first of a two-day, two-game set to start conference play. Wisconsin wraps up the opening week with a doubleheader on March 30.
After a single game with Eastern Michigan at Old College Field on April 2, the Spartans hit the road for seven of their next eight games. The stretch begins with a weekend set at defending Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament champion Ohio State on April 4-5. A home contest with Western Michigan on April 9 is the lone slate in East Lansing during this run, before MSU heads to Iowa (April 11-12) and Illinois (April 13 - doubleheader). A single-game at local rival Central Michigan on April 16 concludes the time away from home.
Michigan State plays its next six at Old College Field, facing Purdue (April 18-19), Indiana (April 20 - doubleheader) and Oakland (April 23 - doubleheader) in two-game sets. The Michigan State-Michigan rivalry is set for a home-and-home on April 25 and 26, beginning with a 6 p.m. start on the 25th in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines, who advanced to last year's Super Regionals, then travel to East Lansing for a noon-time first pitch on the 26th. The next day, the Spartans will face-off with Penn State, a NCAA Tournament team from last season, in a doubleheader in State College, Pa.
A double-dip with Detroit on Thursday, May 1 concludes the home portion of MSU's regular season, marking the last games at Old College Field for the Spartans' six seniors. The regular season as a whole wraps up that weekend with a trip to Super Regional participant Northwestern for a pair of single games on May 3 and 4.
The 2008 Big Ten Championship is schedule for May 8-10, hosted by the school who wins the regular season title.
