2016 Softball Schedule Released

University of Louisville softball coach Sandy Pearsall has released the 2016 schedule. The Cardinals will face eight teams from the 2015 NCAA tournament field and five teams that finished last season ranked in the top 25.

"Our 2016 schedule will be very demanding, but we look forward to the challenge," said Pearsall. "Our pre-conference season should prepare us for the ACC which sent seven teams to the NCAA tournament last year."

The Cardinals will play 28 games at Ulmer Stadium including the Red & Black Classic in February and the Louisville Classic in March. Admission is free to all home games.

Louisville will open the 2016 season Feb. 12-14 at the 2016 Islanders Tournament where it will face host Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State and Iowa. The Cards will also spend the second week of the season on the road, this time in Raleigh, N.C., where they will take on Wisconsin and Nebraska in the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge.

In their home-opening weekend, the Cardinals will host the Red & Black Classic when Cleveland State, Kent State and North Dakota State visit Ulmer Stadium Feb. 26-28.

Louisville will kick off the month of March in Nashville, Tenn. , where the Cardinals will face Lipscomb in a midweek doubleheader. The Cards will return to Ulmer Stadium for a nine-game home stand starting with their ACC opener, a three-game series with Georgia Tech March 5-6. The following weekend will bring the Louisville Softball Classic which will feature Illinois State, Jacksonville State, Dayton, Eastern Kentucky and Michigan. The Cards will resume ACC play with a three-game set at Virginia March 19-20 before returning to Ulmer Stadium to face NC State in another league series March 25-26. Louisville will close out March with a single game at Western Kentucky before heading to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face North Carolina in an ACC series.

The Cardinals will then travel to Lexington, Ky., to face in-state rival Kentucky in the first game of a home-and-home series on April 6. Louisville will return home for another ACC series against Virginia Tech the following weekend. After a midweek non-conference tilt at Indiana, Louisville will open a seven-game home stand against NC Central April 16-17. The Cards will play host to ACC foe Syracuse April 23-24 and wrap up the home season against Kentucky on April 27.

Louisville will close out the regular season with back-to-back ACC road trips to Notre Dame and Florida State.

Upon the conclusion of the regular season, the top eight teams in the league will travel to Raleigh, N.C. to compete in the 2016 ACC Softball Championship which will be hosted by NC State May 12-14.

The Cardinals finished the 2015 season with a 30-19 overall record after making their 12th consecutive NCAA regional appearance. Louisville returns 13 letterwinners and six starters from last year's squad including seniors Morgan Hart, Hailey Smith, Brittany Sims and All-ACC first team selection junior Maryssa Becker.

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