MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Southern New Hampshire University softball team opens up the 2014 campaign on March 1, and is set to play a 49-game schedule through April.
The Penmen open their season when they travel to Clermont, Florida for the fourth straight year to play 14 games, including 11 at the National Training Center (NTC), and three at Hancock Park from March 1-March 8. SNHU debuts at the NTC on March 1 against Notre Dame (Ohio) at 9:00 a.m., followed by Dowling at 11:00 a.m., and will return on Sunday, March 2 for another doubleheader against Lake Erie and Florida Tech. The next day (3/3) the team will play two games at Hancock Park against Georgian Court and Holy Family, and return to the NTC for its next five games. The Penmen will play one more game at Hancock Park on Friday, March 7 against Ashland, and will close out the week on March 8 with two games against Shippensburg and Saginaw Valley back at the National Training Center.
After being idle for 11 days, SNHU will host Franklin Pierce for its home opener on March 19 for a Northeast-10 Conference twinbill with games at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. SNHU will then hit the road for four more conference games at Saint Rose and Le Moyne, and return home again to host Post University on March 25. The Penmen will close out the month of March with five away games, including a single game at Franklin Pierce, and two doubleheaders against non-conference opponents Molly and LIU Post.
Southern New Hampshire will play a total of 22 conference games, and have home field advantage for the majority of April, hosting 13 contests, and traveling for just nine. The Penmen will open the month traveling to Saint Michael's for two games on Wednesday, April 2, and will return for an eight-game home stand, hosting Merrimack twice, New Haven, Southern Connecticut State, and Saint Michael's. A three-game series at Stonehill College will break up home play for SNHU on March 12-13, but the Penmen will host cross-town rival Saint Anselm for two games on April 16, and close out their home game schedule with a three-game series against Bentley on April 18-19. Four road games will round out regular season play and the month of April for SNHU, traveling to Saint Anselm on April 22, and finally Assumption for three-games on April 25-26.
The Northeast-10 Championship will see the top four teams from each division, for a total of eight teams. The No. 2 seed from each side will get a bye, while the No. 1 seed from each division will get a double-bye. The third and fourth seeds in each division will square off on Tuesday, April 29, at the site of the higher seed, as the remaining six teams travel to the top seed in the Southwest Division for the remainder of championship play. The winners of the first round games will play the No. 2 seeds on Thursday, May 1, and the championship game is set to be played on Saturday, May 3.
The Northeast-10 Northeast Division Champions finished the 2013 season with a program-best 29 wins, and a 29-15 overall record. Despite earning the top-seed and home field advantage throughout the league championship, the Penmen fell short in a semi-final game against New Haven by a score of 2-1.
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