Lamar softball to face tough schedule in 2021

BEAUMONT, Texas — The Lamar University softball program released its 49-game schedule, announced head coach Amy Hooks on Monday afternoon. Highlighted by 18 home contests, including six of those in non-conference play, the Cardinals will open the season on Friday, February 12th with a doubleheader at Houston.

"I am very excited for the season and to see us compete against a quality schedule," said head coach Amy Hooks. "We have depth at every position which has forced everyone to step up. We are playing several preseason Top 25 teams to test us early in our season and prepare us for conference play. Playing a shortened season last year made a huge impact on our team and that has created a ton of excitement to get the season started."

The Cardinals open the home portion of their season with a six-game homestand when they welcome UTSA to Beaumont on Saturday, February 13th in doubleheader action. A day later on February 14th, Lamar will welcome Texas Southern to the LU Softball Complex for a doubleheader. To finish off the homestand, the Cardinals will welcome preseason NFCA Top 25 No. 9 Louisiana to compete in a doubleheader on Tuesday, February 16th.

The Cardinals will then go on the road for a 14-game road trip that includes three tournaments starting with the Tracy Beard Classic from Feb. 19-21 that includes contests against Kansas, North Texas and Oklahoma State. Other programs in the tournament field include Texas, Tarleton State, South Dakota State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Following the Tracy Bread Classic, Lamar will play in the Lone Star State Invitational which is hosted by Baylor, Texas State and Texas from Friday, February 26th to Sunday, February 28th. The Cardinals will compete against Texas (twice, both on the 26th), Connecticut and Baylor on the 27th, and will end the tournament with a single game against Texas State on February 28th.

The Cardinals will then head to College Station, Texas to round out the non-conference portion of the season when they partake in the Reveille Classic hosted by Texas A&M. Lamar will kick off their play with two contests on Friday, March 5th beginning with Tennessee at 12:30 p.m. and then turn around and face Texas A&M at 3 p.m. On day two of the classic, the Cards are set to play Campbell and rematch against the Lady Volunteers. The Cardinals will close out the Reveille Classic on March 7th against host, Texas A&M.

The conference portion of Lamar's schedule gets underway on the road from March 12-13 when Big Red will be in Hammond, La. to take on Southeastern Louisiana. The Cardinals will then turn their attention to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when they welcome the Islanders to Beaumont from March 19-20.

The Cardinals will close out the month of March when they travel to Stephen F. Austin on March 26-27 before opening the month of April on the road at McNeese from April 2-3.

The series against Northwestern State will open up a six-game homestand for the Cardinals that will also include a three-game stretch against Incarnate Word (UIW). Lamar will then hit the road to Houston for a three-game series against Houston Baptist before returning home Friday, April 30th, to close out home play, against Nicholls. The Cardinals will close out the regular season at Central Arkansas from May 7-8.

The Southland Conference Championships will get underway on Tuesday, May 11th and run to Friday, May 11th.

For the most up-to-date information on the season, follow @LamarSoftball on Twitter and check LamarCardinals.com.