The University of Maine softball team will play five teams that earned NCAA tournament berths during their 2018 non-conference excursions, including perennial power Oklahoma State University.
The Black Bears play 24 games between Feb. 23 and March 18 before returning to New England and opening the northern portion of their schedule at Boston University on March 24.
Their America East schedule begins March 31-April 1 with a three-game set at Hartford and UMaine plays its first home games against America East rival UMass Lowell in an April 11 doubleheader.
Oklahoma State finished 38-25 including a 3-2 mark in the University of Florida Regional.
The other 2017 NCAA tournament teams are Saint Francis (Pennsylvania), which went 49-11; Princeton (25-20), Southern Illinois (33-24) and Longwood University of Virginia (30-29).
The Black Bears, who lost to Albany 6-1 in the America East tournament championship game last spring after winning the title and earning an NCAA berth two years ago, plays their first five games in Wilmington, North Carolina beginning on Feb. 23; five more in Stillwater, Oklahoma and 12 at Tampa, Florida.
They play two games apiece against North Carolina-Wilmington (35-20-1 last year), Bucknell University (23-20) and one against Longwood in UNC-Wilmington. At Stillwater, Oklahoma, they will face Oklahoma State and Saint Francis twice each and the University of Nebraska-Omaha (15-30) once.
The Tampa portion of their schedule will see them play two games against Iona College (27-24) and single games against Loyola-Marymount (20-31), Quinnipiac (23-27), South Dakota State (19-35), Robert Morris (19-33), Southern Illinois, the University of South Florida (32-24), South Carolina State (2-38) Butler University (23-29), Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (23-31), Florida Gulf Coast University (30-30), Princeton and Buffalo (9-46).
UMaine will play 18 America East games.
The Black Bears went 19-25 a year ago, 10-6 in the conference, and return eight starters and all three of their pitchers.
“It’s a great schedule,” said UMaine coach Mike Coutts. “We play some teams that are like us and are in conferences like ours. Then we’ve got some games against (top-notch) teams that will challenge us and we’ll get a chance to see where we are.”
He likes the idea of staying in one area and playing several games rather than moving around, which is more convenient and saves money.
Playing at an exceptional venue like Oklahoma State will be similar to playing at an NCAA Regional.
“That’s why you compete,” said Coutts.
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