Youngstown -- Youngstown State Softball Head Coach Brian Campbell today (Jan.
announced a 56-game schedule for the 2014 season. The Penguins will play in four tournaments in the months of February and March.
" I think we have put together a very competitive schedule for this year," Campbell said. "We are a young team so I felt it was vital for us to play a lot of games early so we can evalutate our players.
I also think this is a schedule that will challenge us, but one that we can be successful as well."
The Penguins' four four-game tournaments are at USC-Upstate (Feb. 7-9), Tennessee State (Feb. 21-23), Winthrop (March 7-8) and Coppin State (March 14-16).
At USC-Upstate, the Penguins will face Towson on Feb. 7, USC-Upstate and UNC-Central on Feb. 8, and Virginia on Feb. 9.
The opponents at the Tiger Classic include Tennessee State, Indiana State, Dayton and Wesern Michigan.
At Winthrop, the Penguins will take on Marist, Connecticut, Withrop and Norfolk State, and will face Mount St. Mary's, LaSalle, UMass-Lowell and Coppin State at the Coppin State Tournament.
Sandwiched between the Winthrop and Coppin State tournaments is a three-game series at UNC-Wilmington (March 11-12).
The Penguins' 2014 home opener at the new YSU Softball Complex is a doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, March 18, at 3 p.m. That is followed by five more home games against Niagara (March 19) and a three-game Horizon League series against Valparaiso (march 23-24).
Other home games at the new on-campus facility include a doubleheader against Saint Francis (Pa.), April 9, Horizon League series against UIC, April 12-13, and Wright State, April 18-19, and a doubleheader against Dayton, April 21.
The Penguins' other away opponents include at Akron, March 25, a Horizon League series at Cleveland State, March 29-30, a doubleheader at Robert Morris, April 2, a three-game set at Green Bay, April 5-6, and a doubleheader at St. Bonaventure, April 16.
Youngstown State also travels to Oakland for a three-game series, April 26-27, to Toledo, April 30, and close out the regular season at Detroit in a three-game league series, May 3-4.
