Softball Unveils 2013 Schedule
12/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Smith has put together a challenging schedule for her first season as the Pirates will face 10 programs that qualified for the 2012 NCAA Tournament in USF, Maryland, Texas Tech, DePaul, Hofstra, San Diego State, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Miami (Ohio) and South Alabama, with USF advancing to the Women's College World Series a season ago.
The Pirates will make their 2013 debut on Friday, Feb. 8, against St. Bonaventure at the Hampton Inn Campbell Stampede Tournament, hosted by Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. There they will also face George Washington, Robert Morris and Campbell at the two-day tournament.
"We are going down to Campbell, that's my alma mater so I get to go back where I went to school, and it will be a nice friendly environment," Smith said. "We are also playing some other schools from the northeast and it might be their first time on the dirt too; I think that will be a nice way to ease into our season."
After a four-game set in North Carolina, Seton Hall will head to Jacksonville, Fla., to compete in the Jacksonville University Invitational on Friday-Sunday, Feb. 22-24, where its joins a tough field with Delaware, Jacksonville, South Alabama and Mount St. Mary's. Seton Hall's all-time home run leader Laura Taylor is the top assistant coach for Jacksonville University.
Spring Break week commences with the first of two mid-Atlantic tournaments, the George Washington University Colonial Classic, held Saturday-Sunday, March 2-3, in Washington, D.C., and the University of Maryland- Baltimore County Dawg Pound Invitational from Friday-Sunday, March 8-10, Baltimore, Md.
At George Washington the Pirates will face Dartmouth, Bucknell and host George Washington, while the UMBC tourney will feature Niagara, Mount St. Mary's, Howard and George Washington.
Between those tournament dates will be a pair of doubleheaders at Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foes Maryland on Tuesday, March 5, in College Park, Md., and then Virginia on Wednesday, March 6, in Charlottesville, Va.
"We wanted to make sure that we played some teams that kept our RPI a little bit higher than it has been in the past," Smith said. "We really enjoyed Maryland and Virginia, they are really high quality opponents and we are looking forward to playing them."
The final early season tournament of the year will see Seton Hall travel to sunny San Diego, Calif., for five games at San Diego State University on Friday-Sunday, March 15-17. The Pirates will play Texas Tech, Miami (Ohio), Texas-Arlington, San Diego State and Colorado State before heading back to the northeast for a quick doubleheader at Saint Peter's University on Wednesday, March 20, before getting ready for the start of the conference season.
The BIG EAST sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament last season and the Pirates will be facing four of those squads during the 2013 regular season, starting with a three-game home series against the University of Notre Dame on Saturday-Sunday, March 23-24.
"We do have quite a few teams that made it to the NCAA's last year on our schedule and I think that if you look at our schedule in terms of really strong or really week we are a little bit on the stronger side," Smith said. "But you need to play the best to be the best and we've got some work to do to get there so why not play the best."
The Pirates travel to St. John's University for a doubleheader on Thursday, March 28, and a single game on Saturday, March 30, before playing a midweek BIG EAST doubleheader at DePaul University on Wednesday, April 3.
The weekend of April 6-7 will see Seton Hall step out of conference play to host Marist on Saturday, April 6, and then travel to Siena on Sunday, April 7.
BIG EAST play resumes with a three-game set at the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14, and the Pirates host Hofstra for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 16.
Seton Hall heads north to face Syracuse University on Saturday-Sunday, April 20-21, and returns home for five BIG EAST games in five days as it hosts USF on Wednesday, April 24, and wraps up the 2013 home slate with a series against the University of Connecticut on Saturday-Sunday, April 27-28.
Seton Hall will face Stony Brook for a single game in Stony Brook, N.Y., on Wednesday, May 1, and then closes out the regular season at Georgetown on Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5.
The 2013 BIG EAST Championship will be hosted by USF on Friday-Sunday, May 9-11, in Tampa, Fla.
