Softball schedule packed with ranked foes, five tournaments, another tough OVC lineup
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The 2009 Tennessee Tech softball
schedule, which begins next weekend (Feb. 6-8), will present plenty
of challenges for the Golden Eagles and veteran coach Tory
Acheson.
Tech faces a 55-game slate that features five tournaments in four
different states, seven opponents that are either ranked or
receiving votes in the preseason polls, a typically tough
conference worksheet, and only 15 home games.
“This schedule will be extremely challenging and exciting,
especially for a team as young as ours,” said Acheson, who
has claimed more than 400 victories during his first 10 seasons in
Cookeville.
Simple math gives Acheson an average of more than 40 wins per
season as Golden Eagle head coach. He led the Golden Eagles to
back-to-back 50-win seasons in 2006 and 2007.
“Basically, we're starting from scratch,” Acheson said
of his 2009 squad. “We only have one player left on our
roster who was on our last championship team and that turnover is
going to make things a little more unsettled early in the
year.”
Early in the year is when Tech takes on its toughest opponents with
tournaments in Tennessee, Georgia, California and Kentucky.
The slate gets underway next weekend at a tournament in
Chattanooga, where Tech will meet Atlantic Sun champion Campbell,
Virginia Tech, Maine, Troy, and host and Southern Conference
champion UT-Chattanooga.
Tech's 2009 opponents either ranked in the preseason Top 25 or
receiving votes include Michigan,Brigham Young, Nevada, UT
Chattanooga, Jacksonville State,
Texas and UC Santa Barrbara
From there, the team will take part in the Kennesaw State
Tournament in Georgia (Feb. 13-14), going up against Horizon League
champion Wright St. In mid-February (Feb. 19-21), Tech will visit
the west coast to take on some of the biggest names in the sport,
including WAC Champion Nevada, MWC runner-up Brigham Young, and Big
West runner-up UC Santa Barbara. Tech’s schedule in the
tourney also includes games against Texas and Oregon State.
The Golden Eagles will end the first month by returning to
Chattanooga for the Frost Tournament (Feb/ 27-March 1) to challenge
Sacred Heart, Missouri State, Valparaiso, and Rhode Island. Tech
will round out tournament play in Kentucky (March 7-8) where they
will face Big-10 champion Michigan, Louisville, and MAC runner-up
Ohio, during early March.
Following those tournaments, Tech takes only four trips out of
state with OVC games at Eastern Kentucky, Southeast Missouri and
Jacksonville State, and a non-conference twinbill at Kennesaw State
to wrap up the regular season.
All of Tech’s 15 home games take place within the span of
less than a month, beginning March 17 as Tech hosts Bradley. Most
of those games come in a 10-game homestand between March 31 and
April 11, which includes visits by Texas-El Paso, Western Kentucky,
Murray State, Tennessee State, and Eastern Illinois.
The 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament is schedule for May 7-9
at the home of the regular season champion, with the NCAA Regionals
the following week.
“I was excited with what I saw in the fall and I think that
we've got a hard-working and extremely talented young team,”
Acheson said. “We expect to contend for the
championship.”
