Wednesday, October 10, 2007

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 10, 2007) - A 22 game road trip to start the season, games against 10 participants from the 2007 postseason tournament including Baylor who made it to the Women's College World Series and the national runner-up Tennessee, and 11 home doubleheaders all are on deck for the Lady Bucs as head Coach Andrea Mangrum announced her 2008 schedule on Wednesday.

The Bucs' 22 game road trip features four tournaments including the Cox Communications Classic in Gainesville, Fla., the Chattanooga Challenge in Chattanooga, Tenn., the College of Charleston Tournament in Charleston, S.C. and the Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. where only the top teams are invited to play.

The Bucs open the season against Furman on Feb. 9 with a doubleheader in Greenville, S.C. While on the road the Bucs will face tough competition going up against North Carolina, Florida, Hofstra, Baylor, Stetson and Howard who all made it to the 2007 tournament.

            "We play in a lot of tournaments against top competition and that will help us be stronger because to be the best you have to play the best," Mangrum said. "We also wanted to make sure the girls are confident and have games under their belt before we open at home. I feel it is a great schedule and will help with the success of our program."

The first home game does not come until March 12 as the Bucs will host Ohio Valley Conference regular season and conference tournament champions Tennessee Tech.

The Bucs open conference play on March 16 against Florida Gulf Coast in a double header. Other conference opponents that will make the trip to Johnson City include Gardner-Webb, North Florida, Jacksonville, Campbell and conference tournament champion Stetson. USC Upstate, Lipscomb, Mercer, Belmont and Kennesaw State mark the conference road games.

Rounding out the non-conference portion of the schedule is Virginia Teach and Appalachian State. ETSU will travel to Bristol, Tenn. to take on the Hokies on April 22, and then the Lady Bucs travel to Boone, N.C. to face the Mountaineers on April 9.

The Atlantic Sun Tournament will be hosted in Deland, Fla. by Stetson University. The Bucs will look to improve upon their win against Lipscomb last year as they were knocked out of the tournament by Campbell and Gardner-Webb.

            Click on the icon above to view a full copy of the 2008 Lady Buccaneer schedule. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU softball.