Oct. 20, 2011
Schedule
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech will face arguably its toughest schedule in the past 15 years this spring as the Lady Techster softball team plays 20 games against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
LA Tech head coach Sarah Dawson's squad opens the year at the LSU Tournament amongst a field that consists of LSU, Michigan and Penn State - three teams that advanced to the postseason in 2011.
"There will be no easing our way into the 2012 season," said Dawson. "We have a great challenge the first weekend at LSU which has fueled us with a sense of urgency this fall. We know playing these top-ranked opponents will only prepare us for an even more competitive conference schedule this year with the addition of BYU to the Western Athletic Conference. We have added depth to every position on the field, and we will rely on each girl to contribute to the team's success this spring."
The Lady Techsters 57-game slate also consists of tournaments at UL-Lafayette, Auburn, Mississippi State and Southern Miss as well as a home game against Ole Miss and a road doubleheader at WCWS participant Baylor.
The Lady Techsters Western Athletic Conference schedule might be tougher than the non-conference slate with three games each against NCAA Tournament teams BYU, Fresno State and New Mexico State and three more against Hawaii, which advanced to the WCWS in 2010.
Another challenging aspect of this year's schedule is the fact that the first 25 games of the season will come on the road. Tech opens the home portion of its season March 13 against Central Arkansas which starts a stretch where it will play 15 of its next 18 games at the newly-renovated Lady Techster Softball Complex.
Despite the departure of Boise State from the league, Tech's WAC slate remains at 21 games with the addition of BYU as a softball-only member of the conference. Tech hosts three-game WAC series against Utah State (March 23-24), New Mexico State (April 6-7), BYU (April 20-21) and Nevada (April 27-28).
The regular season slate concludes May 4 and 5 at Fresno State prior to the WAC Tournament which will run May 9-12 in Las Cruces, N.M.
Dawson and Co. return 12 letter winners from last year's team that made a late season run in the WAC Tournament. Tech knocked off host Fresno State and Utah State before bowing out of the double elimination tournament with a heart-breaking 13-inning loss to Boise State and a 1-0 loss to FSU.
The Lady Techsters welcome eight newcomers to this year's team.
