University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Releases 2009 Softball Schedule
10/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
DENTON, Texas (10/8/08) - The University of North Texas has announced its 2009 softball schedule which features three home tournaments at Lovelace Stadium, including the Sun Belt Conference Championship.
Under head coach TJ Hubbard, the Mean Green has 13 home dates in addition to three home tournaments. North Texas hosts the Sleep Inn Classic along with TWU on February 20-22. Iowa State, Missouri State, Central Arkansas, Butler and Wichita State will all compete in the tournament. The following weekend on February 28 and March 1, the Mean Green will host the Quality Inn & Suites Invitational. The three-team tournament will include Kansas and Harvard.
Following the conclusion of the 2009 regular season, North Texas will host the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which begins on May 6 and will conclude with the championship game on May 9. The top eight teams in the conference will advance to the tournament.
"Lovelace Stadium is a great softball venue and hosting the two regular season tournaments and the conference tournament will really give us a chance to showcase our facilities," said Hubbard. "We are also able to bring in quality opponents which is a testament to our program and facility. Over the course of the season, we are hoping to create a real home-field atmosphere, which will hopefully give us an advantage for the Sun Belt Conference Championship."
North Texas opens the spring season by traveling to Corpus Christi, Texas to compete in the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Tournament. The Mean Green will face the host school in its season opener on Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 pm. NT will also face Detroit Mercy, Creighton and Indiana State in the tournament before returning home to host the Sleep Inn Classic.
Outside of tournament play, the Mean Green will play UTSA and Oklahoma State in the month of February. NT hosts Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Feb. 25 after defeating the Cowgirls last year at Lovelace Stadium. The Mean Green scheduled five Big 12 teams for the 2009 season. NT hosts Baylor on March 31 and faces Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech on the road.
Remaining non-conference foes for the Mean Green include Stephen F. Austin, Texas-Arlington, Texas-El Paso, Louisiana Tech and Texas State. For the second straight year, North Texas will host two charity games. The Strikeout Breast Cancer Game (American Cancer Society) is set for March 10 against UTA and the Play For Kay Day (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) is scheduled for April 22 against Oklahoma.
The Mean Green begins Sun Belt conference play with a home series against Louisiana-Monroe on March 7 and 8. Other Sun Belt foes making their way to Denton include FIU, Troy and Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns advanced to the Women’s College World Series last year after winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and the NCAA Houston Super Regional.
The Mean Green finished the 2008 season with a 27-33 overall record and a 9-15 conference mark. NT returns 11 letterwinners and has 11 newcomers for the upcoming season.
