St. John's University Athletics
Kvilhaug Announces 2016 Softball Schedule
1/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2016 Softball Schedule (PDF)
Schedule Graphic
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QUEENS, N.Y. -- Coming off a historic season that featured the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and a sweep of both the BIG EAST regular season and tournament championships, St. John's head coach Amy Kvilhaug announced the 53-game slate for the Red Storm softball team in 2016.
Highlighted by seven games against six teams that appeared in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, St. John's will play against national powers Florida State, Auburn and Tennessee as part of several highly-competitive tournaments. The Johnnies will play 18 games at home as part of the regular season schedule that will send them to nine different states.
"Every year we look to have a nice balance in our schedule, with a strong emphasis on strength of schedule in the early going," Kvilhaug said. "The philosophy this year is no different. We have several match ups scheduled against the power five conferences, including two trips to SEC country. While it is very exciting to our athletes and also one of the perks of playing in our program to face the best teams in the country, we have a great deal of respect for every single team on our schedule. We will prepare the same way regardless of who, where and when we play."
St. John's kicks off its schedule with four tournaments and 19 games away from Queens with the first contest of the season taking place on Feb. 12 in Miami, Fla., as the Red Storm competes in the FIU Invitational, hosted by the Florida International Panthers. After taking on LIU Brooklyn, St. John's will play FSU, who finished the season ranked eighth nationally. Following a double-header against Valparaiso and FIU on Feb. 13, the Johnnies will return to Felsburg Field the following day for a showdown against Illinois.
After a short-trip to the state of Georgia for two games against Georgia Tech (Feb. 23) and a single matchup at Georgia State (Feb. 24), the Red Storm will travel to Auburn, Ala., for the conclusion of its spring break trip. The two-day tournament beginning Feb. 26 will include matchups against Indiana State, Western Illinois, Boston College and Auburn. Indiana State won the Missouri Valley Tournament last season and Auburn was a Women's College World Series semifinalist.
On March 4-6, St. John's will take on their second Women's College World Series qualifier of the season in the three-day Tennessee Invitational taking place in Knoxville, Tenn. The bracket-style tournament will feature UAB, Green Bay and Tennessee.
Following 16 games away from New York, the Red Storm returns to the Big Apple to play a pair of games versus Connecticut and Colonial Conference Champ Hofstra in the Hofstra Invitational (March 12-13).
Two days after the home opener against Stony Brook (March 16), the Johnnies will host Manhattan, Fairleigh Dickinson, Samford and Howard in the annual SJU Invite (March 18-19).
The Johnnies will host Atlantic-10 Champion Fordham on March 23 before opening up BIG EAST play at Georgetown on March 25-26. After Wagner visits Queens on March 29, the Red Storm will play their second BIG EAST series on the road at Villanova (April 2-3) in a rematch of last season's conference tournament semifinal.
"I have a great deal of respect for the BIG EAST Conference," Kvilhaug added. "There is so much parity in our league. I sincerely believe that on any given day, any team can beat anyone. I think that any of the teams in the league are good enough to vie for a BIG EAST championship. We have to be prepared to bring it every weekend."
St. John's returns to campus for five-straight games beginning with a double-header versus Saint Peter's on April 6. Butler then makes the trip to Red Storm Field for a three-game series (April 9-10).
Once again the Johnnies are back on the road for another long stretch with BIG EAST road trips to Providence (April 16-17) and DePaul (April 23-24) before clashing against Iona in New Rochelle on April 27.
The Red Storm wraps up the regular season in the home state as the team hosts Creighton (April 30-May 1) before taking on LIU Brooklyn for the second time on the year. The final regular season series will be a rematch of the BIG EAST Championship as Seton Hall visits Red Storm Field May 7-8.
"Hopefully our strong early season scheduling helps in our quest to compete for a BIG EAST championship and NCAA appearance," Kvilhaug said. "The top four advance to the postseason and it is always a dog fight getting in. The last two seasons have gone down to the wire with the final game determining who makes it. It's exciting and we look forward to it."
The BIG EAST Championship (May 13-14) will be held in Rosemont, Ill., at the Ballpark at Rosemont, home of the 2015 National Pro Fastpitch Champion Chicago Bandits.
For all the latest news on the St. John's softball team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsSoftball) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with the hashtag, #SJUSB. If you would like to be added to the St. John's softball mailing list, send an email to stjcommunications@stjohns.edu with the subject line "Softball Mailing List".
