Ohio State Eyes 2006 Schedule Filled with Challenges – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Jan. 9, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The first official practice for the Ohio State softball team is one week away and it will mark the beginning of the Buckeyes’ preparation for a 2006 schedule filled with talented opponents. A total of 26 games against 16 opponents that played in the 2005 NCAA tournament, with seven of those foes ranked in the final USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll.
Ohio State finished 32-17 a year ago and fourth in the Big Ten Conference, a league that produced four NCAA tournament teams, two super regional qualifiers and the eventual national champion.
“Through and through the Big Ten is a battle every game,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We were a step away from the NCAA tournament last year and that’s part of the reason we put a challenging schedule together for 2006. We’ll have to show up every day, wire to wire. This could be our toughest schedule ever.”
Beginning its season a week earlier than last year, the Buckeyes depart Feb. 9 for the New Mexico State Tournament, where they will face New Mexico State, Portland State, Colorado State, Utah and Texas-San Antonio. A week later Ohio State travels to Stetson University in Deland, Fla., to face Stetson and Central Florida twice. Of those seven opponents, only Central Florida was an NCAA tournament qualifier a year ago, but Kalafatis knows that early season games on neutral fields are always challenging.
“Our opening tournament at New Mexico State has it challenges against some up and coming programs,” Kalafatis, who will be in her 10th year at OSU, said. “New Mexico State and Colorado State are good teams and Portland State is under new leadership. UT-San Antonio led the nation in home runs last year. Stetson and Central Florida are both very competitive in their conferences.”
From there it is onto the always difficult Palm Springs Tournament Feb. 24-26, where four NCAA tournament participants await. Included in that group are UCLA, which was the 2005 national runner-up, Arizona, which finished No. 4 in the final poll, Oregon, which finished No. 23 and UNLV, which joined those three in the NCAA tournament. OSU will also face Santa Barbara. “In its short number of years of existence, the Palm Springs tournament has become one of the top tournaments to be invited to,” Kalafatis said. “Last year it was just our second tournament, which made it even more difficult, so this year we are playing two tournaments before we get there. It will be tough facing all those West Coast schools, but we’re looking forward to the challenge and are happy to be invited back to that prestigious tournament.”
March will open with the Buckeyes traveling to the Alabama Tournament to face Coastal Carolina, College World Series participant Alabama and Drake before entering a seeded bracket to close out the tournament. The last of five consecutive road trips will take place March 11-12 when OSU faces Louisville, an NCAA qualifier, and Evansville in two games each in Evansville, Ind.
“Alabama is a great program in the SEC and Louisville won a very good Conference-USA last year,” Kalafatis said. “Louisville beat us on our field in the fall so we’ll be excited to play them again when we’re at full strength.”
Ohio State then hosts the Buckeye Invitational March 17-18 and will face NCAA qualifier Robert Morris, a Pittsburgh team that handed OSU a key loss at the end of the 2005 season and two Mid-American Conference leaders Central Michigan and Kent State.
A spring break trip back to California will include double-headers at NCAA qualifiers Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. The Buckeyes remain on the road the following weekend for their Big Ten openers at Indiana and Purdue. Following that weekend, however, Ohio State will play 16 of its next 18 games in Columbus prior to playing its final two Big Ten weekend series on the road at Iowa and Wisconsin Apr. 28-30 and at Penn State May 6-7.
### GO BUCKS! ###
