2015 Schedule

BOSTON - Highlighted by a matchup against WCWS participant Oklahoma and two home games against reigning conference title holders, the defending Patriot League champion Boston University softball team and third-year head coach Kathryn Gleason have announced their 2015 schedule. The Terriers, who will compete in at least eight games against squads that participated in last season's NCAA tournament, will kick off the regular season campaign against a pair of top-15 RPI teams at Arizona State's Littlewood Classic on Friday, Feb. 13.

Returning 12 players from last year's team that went 36-21 and became the lone No. 4 seed to win an NCAA game, the Terriers will play 26 straight road games to open the season before starting the 19-game home schedule against Sacred Heart in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 26. In total, BU will participate in 54 regular season contests with 32 of them coming against teams that claimed 20 or more wins last spring.

"We have put together a schedule that will challenge us from the very first pitch of the season," Gleason said. "I believe the schedule will prepare us for our Patriot League conference opponents and place us in a postseason environment in Arizona, Texas and Florida. Our returners have done a tremendous job leading our newcomers, and I know we are ready to begin to prepare them to compete for each and every game."

The Terriers will open against five teams that finished with an RPI of 75 or better at Arizona State's Littlewood Classic (Feb. 13-15). Up first are the Oklahoma Sooners, who went 51-13 and were one of the final six teams remaining in the NCAAs. That same day, BU will also face the University of Washington, who posted a 37-15 record and advanced to the Super Regionals. The competition continues on Feb. 14 with North Texas (31-22) and NCAA participant Arizona State (46-12-1) and concludes Feb. 15 against Illinois State (RPI 62, 25-28).

Remaining west of the Mississippi River, BU will visit College Station, Texas for the Texas A&M Invitational on Feb. 27-March 1. The Terriers will play a pair of games against the host Aggies, who went 37-22 and reached the NCAAs, and Texas-San Antonio. In the fifth game, they will have a rematch against Illinois State.

BU remains on the road with an extended stay in Florida. The Terriers will first play at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament on Feb. 6-8 in which they will play five games, including contests against host FGCU, Pittsburgh, LIU Brooklyn and Quinnipiac.

After meeting Quinnipiac again (March 11) and Maine (March 12) in midweek contests, BU will conclude the Florida trip at the Michele Smith Spring Break Tournament (March 13-15) in Clearwater. Two of the five scheduled games will come against top-75 RPI programs in NCAA participant South Florida (43-17) and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (34-21). The Terriers will also play against Iowa State, Seton Hall and LIU Brooklyn for the second time.

After playing out west and in the south, the Terriers will make their first appearance in the northeast by opening their second season in the Patriot League at defending conference regular season champion Lehigh. The three-game series will take place on March 21-22 before BU ends the lengthy season-opening road trip at Providence on March 25.

Sacred Heart marks the first home opponent on Thursday, March 26 in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. The Terriers will then host a pair of 30-win teams in Boston College (30-23) on March 31 and defending NEC champion Bryant (32-22) on April 1.

The seven-game homestand concludes against in-state Patriot League foe Holy Cross on April 4-5 before the Terriers pay visits to UMass Lowell (April 7) and BC (April 8). Harvard (April 16) marks the final single-game non-conference road opponent.

BU will later host defending Ivy League champion Dartmouth (31-19) on April 21 and UMass Lowell (April 29) in single-game contests. UMass (April 22) and Stony Brook (April 28) will both visit campus for doubleheaders.

In-between three-game home series against Army (April 11-12) and Colgate (April 25-26), the Terriers will visit Lafayette on April 18-19. BU will hold Senior Day on Sunday, April 26 prior to the first pitch against the Raiders to recognize the contributions of Emily Felbaum, Mandy Fernandez and Kendra Meadows.

The regular season will conclude at Bucknell on May 2-3 in a rematch of the 2014 Patriot League title game, which BU won by a 10-5 margin.

The top four seeds will advance to the Patriot League tournament at the site of the regular season champion on May 7-9.

Key returnees at the plate for Gleason include Patriot League Rookie of the Year Brittany Younan (.379 avg, 36 RBIs, 19 SBs) and All-Conference Second Team member Moriah Connolly (.327 avg, 24 SBs). Gleason also welcomes back to the circle junior All-PL First Team honoree Melanie Russell (13-5, 2.11 ERA) and sophomore Makinna Akers (9-3, 2.49 ERA). Junior Lauren Hynes joined Russell on the first team after batting .333 with 12 RBIs and posting a 14-13 record with a 3.54 ERA.