University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Softball Releases 2005 Schedule
11/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON (11/15/04) - The University of North Texas has announced its 2005 softball schedule which is once again filled with some of the top teams in the country. The Mean Green will face three teams that were ranked in the 2004 USA Today/NFCA Final Top 25 Poll and five teams from the Big XII.
Under the first-year head coach Kelly Burns, the Mean Green has 14 home dates, including one scrimmage on tap.
North Texas opens the season with a scrimmage against a to-be-announced team on Feb. 2 and will start its regular season at Texas A&M on Feb. 4 for the second straight year.
The Mean Green will participate in five tournaments, including the second annual Betlin Mean Green Classic on Feb. 25-27 at Denia Park, which is also NT’s home opener.
NT’s non-conference slate includes Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State, Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor. At home, the Mean Green faces Oklahoma on March 30 and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on April 1. NT also hosts Baylor on April 27. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor were all nationally-ranked last year.
The Mean Green begins conference play with a home series against Florida International on April 9-10. Other Sun Belt foes making their way to Denton include New Mexico State and Western Kentucky. On Aprll 23-24, NT travels to Louisiana to play Louisiana-Lafayette, who finished the 2004 season ranked No. 10 in the final NFCA poll.
North Texas closes out the regular season by playing Western Kentucky at home on May 7-8. The Toppers host the Sun Belt Conference Tournament from May 12-15.
The Mean Green returns all of its starters from last year’s team that posted a 22-57 overall record in the new era of NT softball. North Texas fielded a softball team last spring for the first time in 16 years. The Mean Green went 6-14 in the Sun Belt Conference, including winning four out of its last seven regular season conference games. In the conference tournament, North Texas defeated Western Kentucky in the first game before losing to Louisiana-Lafayette and New Mexico State.
