HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – An early matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers highlights the 2015 Northern Kentucky University softball schedule, the team announced on Monday.
Tennessee finished the 2014 season ranked No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and advanced to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament. The schedule also includes four additional opponents that went on to play in the NCAA Tournament last season.
The season starts Feb. 7 at Kennesaw State in the Owls' Kick Off Classic. The Norse will take on Tennessee Tech, Dayton, Ohio and Tennessee over the course of weekend tournament.
NKU will then attend the Tiger Classic hosted by Tennessee State, which starts Feb. 20. The Norse will face the host team twice and also play Bradley two times over the weekend. In the final game of the event for the Norse, NKU will face Loyola (Chicago).
The season will continue the following weekend at the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Classic at Western Kentucky. Over the three days, NKU will take on Bowling Green, Cleveland State, Butler, Indiana State and host Western Kentucky.
The early tournaments will wrap up the weekend of March 6 at the Southeast Missouri State University Tournament, where NKU will take on the hosting Redhawks. They will also play Wisconsin-Green Bay twice and Cleveland State for the second weekend in a row. The Norse will then go head to Alabama to play a doubleheader against Alabama A&M on March 12, followed by a three-game series at Alabama State on March 15-16.
NKU will open its home schedule with a nonconference doubleheader against Butler on March 17. The Norse will then travel to Florida the following weekend for their first Atlantic Sun Conference matchup of the year in a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast.
On March 26, the Norse will go to Marshall before returning for a five-game homestand. NKU will take on A-Sun opponent Lipscomb in a three-game series March 28-29. The Norse will wrap up the homestand with a doubleheader against Austin Peay on April 1.
NKU will then head back out on the road to take on North Florida in conference play. The three-game series will take place April 3-4. The Norse will then travel to Morehead State to take on the in-state rival in a doubleheader on April 8, before returning home for three games against Kennesaw State April 11-12
Taking a break from conference play, the Norse will travel to IUPUI on April 14 for a twin bill. They then will make weekend trips to Stetson (April 18-19) and USC Upstate (April 25-26).
The Norse will return to NKU to wrap up their regular season with a five-game homestand. On April 28, the Norse will host Miami (Ohio) for a doubleheader before they take on A-Sun foe Jacksonville (May 1-2) in a three-game weekend series.
This will be the first season the Norse will be able to compete in the Atlantic Sun Tournament, which will be hosted by Florida Gulf Coast May 6-9 in Fort Myers, Florida. The top six teams in conference play will be invited to participate.
Home games for NKU softball take place at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field. Admission to all home games is free of charge. For more information, follow @NKUNorseSBall on Twitter and Facebook.
