The BYU softball team huddles before one of its fall games against Southern Utah. The Cougars released their 2017 schedule. (BYU Photo)
BYU softball announced its stacked 2017 schedule last week. The season consists of 56 games and features 2016 National Champion Oklahoma and eight NCAA Super Regional teams.
'We are very excited about our schedule,' BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. 'This year we will compete against many storied programs and multiple teams that are playing at the top level of college softball today. This could be the most aggressive schedule in BYU softball history. I feel like we have built a top program here, and we expect this year's team to compete against these strong schools.'
The Cougars start the season by playing in five back-to-back tournaments away from home. They will travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to open the season and face the No. 1 and No. 3 finishers of 2016, Oklahoma and Auburn. Throughout the season they will face eight other top 25 finishers from last season.
BYU will host its first home game of the season March 15 with a double header against Maine. Following that, the Cougars will have three more home games before traveling to the Northwest for a challenging week of games against Oregon and Oregon State.
West Coast Conference play will start up April 7 with games at Loyola Marymount. The regular conference season will last just over a month with the last home game being held May 9 against Utah State.
The Cougars will then finish the season at Saint Mary's on May 13. NCAA Regionals will begin May 18.
Last year the Cougars finished with a record of 36-21 overall and went 12-3 in the WCC. In 2016 they finished their season at the NCAA Columbia Regional making it their twelfth- straight appearance.