Softball Season Ready to Roll

After three consecutive trips to the Women’s College World Series under coach Ehren Earleywine, Mizzou softball fans eagerly awaited the announcement of a final schedule for the upcoming season. The announcement finally came on Friday morning, leaving fans with anything but disappointment.

The promising 2012 squad will open the season playing in four tournaments and is set to play 24 home games at University Field. The first tournament the Tigers will take part in is the Quality Inn Classic in Troy, Alabama where they will face opponents such as Ball State and Eastern Kentucky.

The first real test for Big 12 Champion runner-ups will be the notorious Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, California. Mizzou will go up against the likes of UC Davis, Nebraska, Washington, Northwestern, and UCLA. With the line up full of conference champions and past National Champions this tournament will be arguably the best in regular season softball.

After what is sure to be an amazing performance on the West Coast, the Tigers will return home where they will be featured in the Missouri Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament in Kansas City.

The first game at University Field will take place this year on March 9th when the Tigers host the DeMarini Invitational. The tournament will include games against Alcorn State, Boise State, and Northern Illinois.

Before starting Big 12 play this season the team will get a taste of SEC softball when they take a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the future rival Razorbacks. Once they return home the Tigers will open Big 12 play against Kansas on March 16th. While the rivalry game between the Tigers and the Jayhawks should be a good one this year the real match ups will come towards the end of the season when Mizzou goes on the road to play defending Big 12 Champion Oklahoma and out of conference foes Oregon.

With a challenging out of conference schedule and an always difficult Big 12 lineup there should be plenty of opportunities for the 2012 Mizzou softball team to shine and prove that they are ready to play with the SEC powerhouses next season.