Lawrenceville, Ga. – The Centenary softball team was predicted to finish fourth in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference this season by the league's coaches based on balloting in the annual preseason coaches' poll.
The Ladies, led by fifth-year head coach Mark Suire, finished 18-23 last season and won four of their final six games as they posted a 12-10 conference record and finished third in the SCAC Championship held on their home field, marking the third time in the last four seasons that the Ladies earned a third-place finish at the conference tournament. Seven Ladies received all-conference recognition, with one first-team selection and two players named to the second team. Four Ladies earned honorable mention recognition.
Texas Lutheran was chosen as the 2020 preseason favorite as the Bulldogs collected 49 total points and all seven first-place votes. Southwestern was picked to finish second and Trinity third just ahead of the Ladies. Centenary received 27 total points in the poll, just one less than third-place Trinity.
The Ladies will play 35 regular-season games including 19 at home. Centenary opens Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, March 7 at home against the University of Dallas. The teams will play a doubleheader at Noon and 2 p.m. and conclude the three-game series the following day with a Noon game. The Ladies will play 18 SCAC contests, eight at home and 10 on the road.
Centenary faces Austin College on the road April 14-15 for its first conference road series. The Ladies finish the regular season with five straight home games from April 9-19 versus Schreiner, Louisiana College, and Hendrix.
"This year's schedule includes a good mix of familiar opponents and some new competition for us," said Suire. "The first week of the season will be a challenge, as we open with a pair of ASC (American Southwest Conference) opponents in ETBU and UT-Dallas who have perennially been nationally ranked. We then host a very talented Pacific University from Oregon. I believe that playing tough competition early in the season will prepare us for the rigors of conference play that begins in early March."
The Maroon and White play host to the University of Texas-Dallas for a doubleheader on Feb. 9 following the season opener against ETBU. Pacific then comes to town for a doubleheader on Feb. 15 with games at 2 and 4 p.m. The Ladies then finish the month of February on the road as they travel to Conway, Ark. For the "2020 Warrior Spring Fling" hosted by Hendrix University Feb. 22-23. Centenary then plays Mississippi University for Women on the road Feb. 25 in a doubleheader.
The 2020 SCAC Championship, a double-elimination tournament, will be held April 24-26 in Kerrville, Texas and hosted by Schreiner University.
A link to the complete season schedule is available here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2019-20/schedule
Live stats and live video are available for all home games and admission is FREE to all Centenary home athletic events.
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