Printable Schedule | Online Schedule

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State softball head coach Holly Hesse announced today her team's 52-game schedule for the upcoming 2019 season.
 
Hesse's 31^st season with the Bears will feature seven foes that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. Likewise, the team's 11^th season at Killian Stadium includes a full slate of 16 home contests, featuring visits from NCAA qualifiers Arkansas (March 6), Tulsa (April 10) and Drake (April 27-28).
 
"I'm very excited about our 2019 schedule and the variety of teams we will see this season," said Hesse. "We will see a number of teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year, and I feel our non-conference schedule will really prepare us for the quality competition we'll see in the Missouri Valley Conference."
 
The Bears kick off the 2019 campaign Feb. 8-10 at the Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala., with neutral-site games against Florida A&M, Auburn, South Alabama, Tennessee State and Louisiana Tech. Auburn is coming off a 41-win season and NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago, while Louisiana Tech won 34 games last season.
 
The team's second tournament of the spring will be at the Southeastern Louisiana University Lion Classic II in Hammond, La., Feb. 15-17. That event features host Southeastern Louisiana, which won 38 games last season, 2018 NCAA Tournament team Prairie View A&M, SIU Edwardsville, UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
MSU returns to the state of Alabama, Feb. 22-24 for the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa. The Five-game event will include a pair of games against host Alabama, a Super Regional team last season, two games against Louisiana-Monroe, and one against Minnesota, which was 17-4 in the Big Ten in 2018 and also made the NCAA field.
 
Hesse's squad then travels to the Central Arkansas Invitational, Feb. 28 to March 2 in Conway to battle ULM again, as well as Coppin State, UAPB, Southeast Missouri State and host Central Arkansas. Both SEMO (33-20) and UCA (29-27) are coming off winning seasons.
 
The Bears host Arkansas in their home opener on Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. at Killian Stadium to begin a 14-game March slate. League play begins with a doubleheader at Southern Illinois on March 13 before the Bears step out of MVC mode for a game at SEMO on March 14.
 
The home conference opener against Loyola runs March 16-17 as part of a seven-game home stand that also includes a single game against Saint Louis (March 20) and a three-game series with UNI (March 23-24). The Bears conclude March with their first MVC series at Valparaiso (March 30-31).
 
April includes Valley series at Bradley (April 6-7) and Illinois State (April 13-14) and home conference dates with Southern Illinois (April 9), Evansville (April 19-20) and Drake (April 27-28). The Bears also play non-conference games against Tulsa (April 10) at Killian, and at UMKC (April 23).
 
The Bears wrap up the regular season at Indiana State, May 3-4, before returning to Peoria for the MVC Tournament, hosted by Bradley, May 8-11, in a new 10-team format.
 
Hesse is the second-winningest coach in Missouri Valley Conference history with 781 victories. She returns 11 squad members and nine letterwinners from a 32-20 squad that finished as MVC runners-up in 2018.