NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head softball coach Melinda Fischer released the full 2019 softball schedule on Friday. The Redbirds will play in five nonconference tournaments to start the season, while hosting 14 Missouri Valley Conference games at Marian Kneer Stadium and a game against Big Ten opponent Iowa.
Illinois State's nonconference slate features eight NCAA Tournament teams from 2018, including Women's College World Series participants Florida and Arizona State.
"Once again, we are playing a very tough pre-conference schedule," Fischer said. "Nine teams were in the NCAA Tournament last season, including Arizona State and Florida, who made it to the Women's College World Series. I'm looking forward to challenging this team to compete day-to-day in preparation for this tough environment to make us ready for MVC competition."
The Redbirds will head to South Florida to start the season and play a single game against the Bulls on Thursday, Feb. 7, to kick off the 2019 campaign, before taking on NC State, Florida, Arizona and Michigan at the USF Wilson DeMarini Tournament. Four of Illinois State's first five opponents reached the NCAA Tournament last season.
For the 29th-straight year, Illinois State will head to Tempe, Arizona, for the Littlewood Classic from Feb. 14-17 for match-ups with the host Sun Devils, Central Michigan, Florida, Utah State and San Diego.
The challenging slate continues for the Redbirds at a five-game tournament hosted by the University of Florida, where Illinois State will open the newly redesigned Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium with a game against Syracuse on Feb. 22. The Redbirds will play the tournament host Gators for the third and fourth time in 2019 on Feb. 22-23, before closing the five-game set with a pair of contests versus Florida A&M.
Illinois State will travel to LSU for the fourth-consecutive season for the Tiger Invitational, where the Redbirds are set to play Stephen F. Austin, USC Upstate and the tournament-host Tigers. Illinois State will also play a pair of games against Big Ten rival Indiana.
The Redbirds' final pre-conference tournament appearance, March 8-10, will be at the FAU / FIU Tournament, where Illinois State will open with a contest against North Dakota State and Purdue in Miami, Florida, before concluding the six-game set in Boca Raton, Florida, versus Long Island, Notre Dame, Florida Atlantic and Purdue.
Illinois State will host 15 games at home, including mid-week match-ups with Iowa and a Bradley doubleheader. The team will also take on Illinois, Bradley and DePaul in mid-week contests on the road.
The 2019 MVC Softball Championship Tournament is set to be held at Bradley, May 9-11. For the full 2019 slate, please visit GoRedbirds.com.
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