Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives 2020 UA19/16/2 Softball Press Releases WKU Athletic Media Relations Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records Part of the Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, Sports Studies Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WKU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS / MEDIA RELATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Friday, January 10, 2020 Softball / Contact: Jessica Leifheit, WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations WKU Softball Schedule – https://goto.ps/2R8hGKv WKU SOFTBALL ANNOUNCES 2020 SLATE BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – With a productive fall campaign in the books, WKU Softball head coach Amy Tudor and her staff have announced the upcoming 2020 spring slate. The combination of nine new faces and 11 returners will take the field 51 times throughout the regular season while looking to secure one of eight spots in Conference USA’s Tournament – hosted in Bowling Green from May 6-9. “We are excited to announce our 2020 schedule and look forward to competing against quality competition both in and out of conference,” head coach Amy Tudor shared. “We hope to see our fans at as many games as possible.” The Red and White will take on four squads that appeared in the NCAA Tournament a year ago (Lipscomb, Chattanooga, Kentucky and Louisiana Tech) and will host 27 contests at the WKU Softball Complex this spring. In total, the Tops will cross paths with 27 different teams during the regular season. The 51-game regular-season slate will kick off with a trip south to Troy, Ala., for the Trojan Classic. Play will begin Friday, Feb. 7, against Lipscomb followed a tilt with College of Charleston. On the second day, WKU will face off with North Florida and Troy before closing weekend play with another meeting with UNF. Opponent Date Time Conference Lipscomb Friday, Feb. 7 10 a.m. CT Atlantic Sun College of Charleston Friday, Feb. 7 12:30 p.m. CT Colonial North Florida Saturday, Feb. 8 9 a.m. CT Atlantic Sun Troy Saturday, Feb. 8 2 p.m. CT Sun Belt North Florida Sunday, Feb. 9 10 a.m. CT Atlantic Sun The second weekend of the 2020 slate features a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., where WKU will open weekend action with Friday tilts against Ohio and Chattanooga. Day two from the Chatt Challenge features matchups with Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb for the Tops before closing play against Bowling Green on Sunday. Opponent Date Time Conference Ohio Friday, Feb. 14 10 a.m. CT Mid-American Chattanooga Friday, Feb. 14 3 p.m. CT SoCon Tennessee Tech Saturday, Feb. 15 10 a.m. CT Ohio Valley Lipscomb Saturday, Feb. 15 12:30 p.m. CT Atlantic Sun Bowling Green Sunday, Feb. 16 9 a.m. CT Mid-American For the third weekend of the campaign, Tudor and company will stay home and host their first of two tournaments for the 2020 season as Green Bay, Indiana State and Ball State come to town. The Hilltopper Classic will mark the first five of 14-straight home games for the Red and White. Opponent Date Time Conference Green Bay Friday, Feb. 21 3 p.m. CT Horizon Indiana State Friday, Feb. 21 5:30 p.m. CT Missouri Valley Ball State Saturday, Feb. 22 12:30 p.m. CT Mid-American TBD (1 vs. 4/2 vs. 3) Saturday, Feb. 22 3/5:30 p.m. CT TBD (Cons./Champ.) Sunday, Feb. 23 11 a.m./1:30 p.m. CT Remaining home for the second of three-straight weekends, the Tops will welcome IUPUI, Illinois State and Austin Peay to The Hill for the Hilltopper Spring Fling. Opponent Date Time Conference IUPUI Friday, Feb. 28 3 p.m. CT Horizon Illinois State Friday, Feb. 28 5:30 p.m. CT Missouri Valley Austin Peay Saturday, Feb. 29 12:30 p.m. CT Ohio Valley TBD (1 vs. 4/2 vs. 3) Saturday, Feb. 29 3/5:30 p.m. CT TBD (Cons./Champ.) Sunday, March 1 11 a.m./1:30 p.m. CT Of the 15 different teams the Hilltoppers will face before reaching their first Conference USA opponent in 2020, WKU will face squads from eight different conferences. Already a month into the season, WKU will host its first of five midweek tilts as Belmont comes to town. Two days later, Middle Tennessee will make the trip up to open league play. New for the 2020 season, all Conference USA series will switch to a three-day series with one game scheduled each day. For WKU’s four home series, first pitches are scheduled for 6 p.m. on Fridays, 2 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays. Remaining Non-Conference Games Opponent (Conference) Date Time (CT) Location Belmont (Ohio Valley) Wednesday, March 4 6 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. UT Arlington (Sun Belt) Tuesday, March 10 6 p.m. Arlington, Texas Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley) Tuesday, March 18 6 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Kentucky (SEC) Wednesday, March 25 6 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun) Wednesday, April 1 6 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley) Wednesday, April 8 6 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Evansville (Missouri Valley) Tuesday, April 28 6 p.m. Evansville, Ind. WKU's remaining conference slate includes trips to North Texas, Florida Atlantic, UTSA and Charlotte while the Hilltoppers will also host Marshall, FIU and Louisiana Tech on the year. Conference USA Series Opponent Date Time (CT) Location Middle Tennessee Fri. - Sun., March 6-8 6 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. North Texas Fri. - Sun., March 13-15 6 p.m./2 p.m./Noon Denton, Texas Marshall Fri. - Sun., March 20-22 6 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. FIU Fri. - Sun., March 27-29 6 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Florida Atlantic Fri. - Sun., April 3-5 5 p.m./4 p.m./11 a.m. Boca Raton, Fla. UTSA Fri. - Sun., April 17-19 6 p.m./1 p.m./1 p.m. San Antonio, Texas Louisiana Tech Fri. - Sun., April 24-26 6 p.m./2 p.m./1 p.m. Bowling Green, Ky. Charlotte Fri. - Sun., May 1-3 4 p.m./Noon/10 a.m. Charlotte, N.C. For the first time since joining Conference USA, WKU will host the league’s tournament as the Hilltoppers will have their sights set on making their fourth-straight trip to the postseason event and fifth in the last six seasons. If the Tops make the eight-team postseason event, they will be the first host in six seasons to qualify for the event. The last team to compete in the event on its home field was Florida Atlantic in 2014. In total, WKU will face squads from 10 different conferences in 2020. WKU has faced at least one team out of the SEC every season since the program's inception in 2000. Eleven squads on the Hilltoppers' 2020 slate won 30-plus games last year with three more posting 40- win campaigns. WKU will face 15 teams that posted winning records a year ago. WKU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS / MEDIA RELATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Thursday, January 23, 2020 Softball / Contact: Jessica Leifheit, WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations Headshots of Aikey and Smith attached – please credit WKU Athletics. TOPS TABBED SECOND IN PRESEASON C-USA POLL; AIKEY, SMITH NAMED PRESEASON ALL- CONFERENCE DALLAS – WKU Softball has been predicted to finish second in the Conference USA Preseason Coach Poll, the league office released Thursday. The Red and White received a pair of first-place votes while earning their highest preseason ranking in their time in the league. Additionally, Kelsey Aikey and Kendall Smith were selected to the C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team. North Texas was predicted to win the league, collecting nine of the possible 12 first-place votes. WKU came in second while Louisiana Tech and Marshall tied for third. The Lady Techsters pulled in the final top vote. UAB, Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss and Florida Atlantic were picked to round out the postseason tournament field, respectively. Closing out the rankings were FIU, UTSA, UTEP and Charlotte in slots nine through 12. Aikey and Smith are the first Hilltoppers to earn Preseason All-Conference USA honors since Miranda Kramer and Dani Pugh did so prior to the 2015 campaign. Smith was a First Team All-Conference selection last May while Aikey was voted to the league’s Second Team. Behind the plate, Smith was honored as a First-Team All-Conference USA selection in 2019 and has followed it up with an NFCA All-Region selection in her sophomore season on The Hill. Smith slashed .321/.423/.650 across the campaign with a scorching 1.073 OPS (on-base plus slugging percent). The Bowling Green, Ky., native tallied seven two-hit games and three three-hit outings in addition to nine two-RBI, three three-RBI and two four-RBI showings. She finished the season with eight doubles, a triple and 12 home runs to go along with a .991 fielding percentage and eight runners thrown out stealing. With two outs on her, Smith delivered 19 RBI and a .362 batting average. Last year, Aikey became the first Hilltopper pitcher to collect any sort of All-Conference honors since the 2015 campaign.