Oct. 21, 2014

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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Two Women's College World Series teams and five other NCAA Tournament participants dot a 55-game 2015 Missouri State softball schedule, announced by head coach Holly Hesse on Tuesday (Oct. 21). MSU will host 20 games at Killian Stadium including the newly minted Rally for Allie Leukemia Awareness Tournament including three other Missouri teams. The Bears will face foes from power conferences including the American Athletic, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA and Southeastern Conference.

"Our early non-conference schedule is extremely challenging," head coach Holly Hesse stated. "It gives us an opportunity for some big, significant wins and will prepare us well for Valley play. I look forward to seeing how our team will step up to the challenge."

The Bears begin the 47th season of collegiate softball at the Louisiana Tech Invitational on Friday, February 6. MSU will face Abilene Christian, Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and SIU Edwardsville in addition to host Louisiana Tech. The Cougars of SIUE will be the first postseason opponent on the docket.

Valentine's Day weekend will see the Bears in College Station, Texas, for the Texas A&M Aggie Classic. A pair of games against Penn State and Eastern Michigan serve as a prelude to the Sunday matchup with the host Aggies.

MSU returns to the Bayou the next weekend beginning the weekend with a doubleheader at McNeese State as part of the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational. The Bears will then travel to Lafayette to play WCWS squad and host Louisiana before wrapping the weekend with a pair of games versus Iowa.

The Bears will close February at Killian Stadium as host of the Rally for Allie Tournament. Three other Missouri schools - Saint Louis, SEMO and UMKC - will be in town for a round robin tournament followed by a consolation and championship game on Sunday, March 1.

MSU will conclude the early season tournament schedule with a trip to Norman, Okla. The Bears will play a pair of games against Samford and host Oklahoma over the weekend of March 7 and 8.

Beginning March 10, the Bears begin a six-game home stand spanning eight days. Central Arkansas and Arkansas come to Springfield before the Bears open MVC play at home against Drake. In state foe, Missouri, comes to Killian to close out the home stand on March 18.

MSU will set out on the road for conference series at Bradley and Indiana State sandwiched around a trip to SIU Edwardsville.

Missouri State returns home for back-to-back conference weekends to begin April. Evansville visits on Easter weekend April 3-4. Loyola will make its first-ever trip to Springfield the following weekend for the traditional Saturday-Sunday three-game set.

Trips to league champion Wichita State and MVC rival Illinois State interject before the Bears wrap up the home slate. On April 22, the Shockers and Bears will finalize the season series at Killian. MSU will conclude the home schedule on April 25-26 against Northern Iowa.

The Bears make a trip to Tulsa before closing the regular season at Southern Illinois. Following the regular season, MSU will travel to Wichita, Kan., for the MVC Softball Tournament beginning May 7.

Missouri State returns five starters and 11 letterwinners from the 2014 team that reached the quarterfinals of the MVC Tournament.

MSUBears - AllieStrong