Five tourneys, 22 home games featured in 2010 softball schedule
The Golden Eagle softball team plays 22 games on the road in the first 31 days in the 60-game 2010 schedule announced this week by coach Tory Acheson. Tech plays 22 home games, 20 at neutral sites and 18 on opposing team's fields, all starting Feb. 12-13 in Murfreesboro.
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the complete 2010 schedule
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – For the first month of the 2010 softball
season, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles might as well keep their
bags packed, but at least they'll only need a couple of tanks of
gas.
Coach Tory Acheson’s squad gets his 12th season at Tech
underway by playing a total of 28 games in the first 31 days, and
22 of those are in five tournaments on the road. The Golden Eagles
do get six home games in the first month, and have a total of 22
home contests in the 60-game schedule announced this week by the
veteran coach.
Despite so many early road contests, Acheson likes the way his
team’s 2010 slate breaks down.
“This is a much stronger home schedule, and a much stronger
schedule overall,” he said.
Tech plays 22 games at home, 20 on neutral fields and 18 as the
visiting team, all leading up to the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference
Tournament, scheduled for May 13-15 at the site of the regular
season champion.
In OVC play, Tech hosts 14 games and plays 14 on the road. Home
conference series are scheduled against Murray State, UT Martin,
Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri, plus a single game against
Jacksonville State. Tech goes on the road for league series at
Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State and Morehead State,
and faces a doubleheader at JSU.
“The OVC schedules balances out a little better this
year,” Acheson said. “It will be interesting going to
Eastern Illinois early in the year. We’ve had a streak of bad
luck playing them. Two years ago the entire series was snowed out
up there and last year we fought Mother Nature for two days before
we finally got to play.”
Acheson said the OVC race is wide open with Jacksonville State and
UT Martin the most likely favorites after each went to post-season
play a year ago.
“The OVC is very hard to predict,” he said. “The
league is so improved over the years since I came here, there
isn’t a team anymore that you can anticipate wins against.
Even the teams in the bottom of the conference get some wins and
are big challenges.”
Included in Tech’s non-conference home schedule are
single-game visits from Tennessee and Liberty and doubleheaders
with Middle Tennessee, Lipscomb and Belmont.
Non-conference road games are at Chattanooga and Western Kentucky,
plus a neutral-site game against Kennesaw State in Chattanooga.
All five tournaments on the schedule are within a couple hours
drive.
“The biggest difference is that there are no long road trips
for these tournaments,” Acheson said. “Every one of
them is regional. In these tough economic times, it didn’t
seem wise to be spending money to play all over the country. We
were able to find strong competition and we don’t have to
travel more than about 200 miles to play any of them.”
The season begins at a tournament at Middle Tennessee State, Feb.
12-13. The Golden Eagles are scheduled to face UM Kansas City and
Miami (Ohio) before battling the host Lady Blue Raiders.
The following weekend, Tech plays in the Kennesaw Invitational,
Feb. 19-21. Tech’s game are against Ball State, Mercer,
Western Illinois and Alabama State, prior to meeting the host
team.
The Golden Eagles play their first home games on Wednesday, Feb.
24, a doubleheader against Middle Tennessee scheduled to start at 1
p.m.
Next is the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Feb. 26-28. Tech will
play Miami (Ohio), Oakland, Wright State, Kansas and East
Tennessee.
The Tennessee Lady Vols come to Cookeville on Wednesday, March 3
for a single game beginning at 5 p.m.
“Every three or four years we’re lucky to get
Tennessee to come here to play us and I think the game will be very
popular,” Acheson said.
Tech’s fourth tournament is the Buzz Classic, March 5-7, in
Woodstock, Ga., where the Golden Eagles will meet Western Carolina,
Mercer, James Madison, Ole Miss and UNC Greensboro.
Lipscomb visits for a March 9 doubleheader, followed by a single
home game against Liberty on March 11.
The final in-season tournament is the Tennessee Invitational,
March 13-14 in Knoxville, Tech meets Liberty for the third time in
three days, Tennessee and Campbell.
The pre-conference slate wraps up March 16 with a single game at
Chattanooga before the Golden Eagles play at Austin Peay to get the
OVC portion of the schedule underway, March 20-21.
