Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s softball team will play a school-record 28 home games at Cheryl Holt Field, along with two early-season tournaments, to highlight its Spring 2014 schedule, head coach Stephanie Paris announced, Wednesday.
Austin Peay will open up against McNeese State and Syracuse on the tournament’s first day. A rematch with McNeese State will open Day 2, with the second game coming against a 2013 NCAA tournament participant Alabama-Birmingham. The Lady Govs will close out the tournament on Day 3 against the host school South Alabama, which made the NCAA tournament field last season and hosted first-round tournament games.
Following the season-opening tournament, the Lady Govs will get reacquainted with a former Ohio Valley Conference member, Feb. 12th, as they travel to Birmingham, Ala., for a doubleheader at Samford.
The first of the record-setting 28 home games will come February 15th-16th, as the Lady Govs host IUPUI for a three-game set. The old record for home games is 26, set back in the 1993 season.
Austin Peay then will play in its season’s second tournament, this time staying instate, with a February 21st-23rd trip to Chattanooga to play in the Frost Classic. The Lady Govs, who last played in the Frost Classic in 2010, will face Ohio and Radford on Day 1, Campbell and the Toledo on Day 2 and conclude the classic with a Day 3 game against Butler.
Austin Peay will then play seven of the next nine games at home, starting with Trevecca Nazarene (February 27th), Holy Cross (March 3rd), Alabama A&M (March 5th) and Chattanooga (March 12th) with a road doubleheader versus Miami (Ohio), March 8th.
The Lady Govs open OVC play when they travel to SIU Edwardsville for a three-game set, March 15th-16th.
The Lady Govs make their second OVC road trip, March 29th-30th, with a three-game set at Southeast Missouri, followed by their final road non-conference doubleheader at Memphis April 2nd.
Austin Peay returns home for its season’s longest homestand – nine games – starting with OVC doubleheaders against Jacksonville State (April 5th), Tennessee Tech (April 6th), a non-conference twin bill against Middle Tennessee State (April 9) and a three-game conference series with Murray State (April 12th-13th).
The Lady Govs close out their away dates with a seven-game road swing, with OVC doubleheaders at Morehead State (April 18th) and Eastern Kentucky (April 19th) and a three-game conference matchup at Eastern Illinois (April 26th-27th).
Austin Peay wraps up its 2014 schedule at home, May 3rd-4th, with a three-game OVC series against the UT Martin.
The OVC tournament will be held at the site of the OVC regular-season champion, May 7th-10th.
