Alabama Announces 2007 Softball Schedule
9/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA ??Head Coach Patrick Murphy announced the 2007 Alabama Softball schedule on Tuesday.
The 2007 schedule features 16 home dates, including three tournaments that will take place at the Alabama Softball Complex. The Crimson Tide will be home for a stretch of seven straight home dates beginning March 27 with a doubleheader against Louisiana Tech and concluding with a doubleheader against Tennessee-Chattanooga on April 11.
"Our 2007 schedule will have the most home dates of any in our history,” said Murphy. “With the fan support we had last year, it made sense and try to play as many home games as possible. For the first time we will host three tournaments. Our third tournament will be great competition with Louisiana-Lafayette and Seton Hall coming to Tuscaloosa. We are also looking forward to another tough SEC schedule, especially with Auburn and Georgia at home."
The Tide will begin their season at the Texas State Tournament in San Marcos, Texas. Murphy tries to travel close to each of his player’s hometowns and this year Kellie Deska and Katie Johnson will return home to Texas. Deska, a senior from Lake Jackson, Texas, has played in 67 career games with 28 starts. Johnson, a junior from New Braunfels, Texas, has started 48 contests and played in 99 games in her first two years.
Alabama will then return home for two straight tournaments. The BAMA BASH will feature Michigan State, Radford and Toledo from Feb. 16-18. The next week the Tide will host Indiana State, N.C. State and Winthrop in the Crimson Classic.
The SEC slate begins March 10-11 with a three-game home series against Mississippi State as the Tide look to defend their 2006 SEC Championship. Alabama will then hit the road for their first conference road games, a midweek doubleheader at Florida on March 14 and a weekend series with South Carolina March 17-18.
The Tide will square off against Auburn in a doubleheader Easter weekend with two games on April 6 and one on April 7. Alabama will wrap up the regular season with three games at Tennessee May 5-6. The SEC Tournament will follow May 10-12 in Auburn.
Alabama returns 15 of its 18 players from its first SEC Regular Season Championship in 2006, including six starters. Four All-SEC performers and three NFCA All-South Region selections also return. Last season the Tide advanced to the College World Series for the second straight year and fourth time in the past seven seasons.
This fall Alabama will have two home dates. They host Wallace and Jeff State on Sunday, Oct. 8. The next weekend on Saturday, Oct. 14 they will face Shelton State and Wallace-Dothan.
