University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Softball Releases 2015 Schedule
11/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Complete 2015 Pitt Softball Schedule | Complete 2015 Pitt Softball Schedule (PDF)
PITTSBURGH – University of Pittsburgh softball head coach Holly Aprile has announced the Panthers’ 2015 schedule. Pitt is entering its second year in the ACC, and its seventh season under the direction of Aprile.
“We are really looking forward to our second season in the ACC,” said Aprile. “The conference is highly competitive from top to bottom and we look forward to those challenges every weekend.”
The Panthers will be on the road for most of the season, playing 36 of their 55 total games away from Pittsburgh. This leaves Pitt with 19 home contests to be played at the Petersen Sports Complex, including nine consecutive to end the season.
The team is slated to take on seven opponents who participated in the 2014 NCAA tournament, including five ACC teams. NC State, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Louisville all competed in the opening round, while Florida State represented the ACC in the Women’s College World Series. College of Charleston, Boston University and Southern Illinois, who Pitt will face this season, also participated in the tournament.
“We have a tough schedule but that isn’t new for us,” said Aprile. “We will need to be ready to go for every game in all aspects; pitching, offense and defense.”
Pitt opens its season with three consecutive weekend road tournaments, with the first being the Hampton Inn & Suites Tournament in San Marcos, Texas. The Panthers will play games against Sam Houston State, Northern Illinois and tournament host Texas State on Feb. 6-8.
The following weekend on Feb. 13-15, the Panthers will head west to Santa Barbara, Calif., to compete in a tournament hosted by UC Santa Barbara. Pitt will have two matchups against Rutgers and UCSB, with a single game against St. Mary’s included in the mix.
The third tournament will take place at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., on the weekend of Feb. 20-22. The Panthers will take on five different teams down south, including Appalachian State, UMass, Winthrop, Charleston, and Bowling Green.
In an early ACC match-up, Pitt travels to Charlottesville to take on Virginia in a three game series the following weekend. The Panthers will play a doubleheader on Feb 28 against the Cavaliers before concluding the series with a single game on March 1. This series marks the first time in Pitt softball history that the team will play a conference game in February.
The Panthers will end tournament play at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament in Fort Meyers, Fla. The event will take place on March 6-10. Pitt will compete against Quinnipiac, Boston University, LIU-Brooklyn, Florida Gulf Coast and SIU Edwards.
ACC play will fully get underway in mid-March with Pitt traveling to Georgia Tech for a conference series on March 14-15. The team will get a quick break from ACC play the following week when they take on in-state rival, Penn State, in a midweek match-up on March 18 in State College, Pa.
The Panthers’ road games will then begin to dwindle, as the team will only be away three more times during the remainder of the season. Pitt will visit Florida State for a three game series (March 28-29) and then move on to face non-conference opponent Ohio State for a doubleheader (March 31). The Panthers’ final road series will be in mid-April as the team heads north to take on the Orange of Syracuse (April 11-12).
Pitt will welcome ACC opponents NC State (March 20-21), Notre Dame (April 3-4), Virginia Tech (April 18-19) and Louisville (May 2-3) to Vartabedian Field during the 2015 season. The Panthers will also host St. Bonaventure (March 25), Kent State (April 8), Penn State (April 15) and Saint Francis (April 29) for mid-week non-conference games.
Virginia Tech will be the site of the ACC Tournament which is set for May 7-9. Pitt will look to qualify for the tournament for the first time after missing it last season.
The Panthers return 15 players from last year’s team and adds six newcomers.
“We have an experienced and mature group this year," said Aprile. "The team knows that they will need to be both physically and mentally prepared for a battle every weekend."
Follow the team on Twitter at @PITTSoftball or visit PittsburghPanthers.com to keep up with everything Pitt softball related.
