STANDISH, Maine – The 2016 Saint Joseph's College softball team faces a full 40-game schedule this spring, a docket that includes 22 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contests and 18 non-conference games. See the full schedule synopsis below.
Saint Joseph's, led by co-head coaches Jamie Smyth '92 and Dick Bailey, will take on an impressive list of out of conference opponents, including WPI, Aurora, Moravian, University of New England, Bowdoin, and Southern Maine.
Included on this year's docket are five opponents the Monks have never before faced on the softball diamond – Juniata, Sage, Austin, Aurora, and Haverford – and several which St. Joe's has not played in at least eight years, including Moravian (3/17/2000), Roger Williams (3/16/2007), and St. Mary's (3/4/2008).
Overall, the 2016 list of opponents compiled a 473-416 (.532) record, collectively, last spring and the Monks own a 256-91 (.738) all-time record versus the 24 different foes combined. St. Joe's is scheduled to play 16 games at home, 14 away and 10 at a neutral site this spring.
The Monks open the 2016 campaign this Sunday in Clermont, Florida with single games versus Roger Williams and St. Mary's (IN) and cap the 10-game trip with tilts versus Haverford and St. Mary's (IN) on Friday.
Saint Joseph's opens at Richard W. Bailey Field on Wednesday, March 30th with a twinbill versus University of New England. First pitch is slated for 3:00 PM.
St. Joe's kicks off conference play on April 2nd with two home contests against Albertus Magnus College.
The 2016 GNAC Tournament begins with a preliminary round (top four seeds receive a bye - #8@#5 and #7@#6 play single-elimination games) on May 3rd. The remaining four teams enter double-elimination play with the quarterfinals on May 6th and the highest remaining seed will serve as the host for the semifinal and championship games on May 7th and 8th. The GNAC Tournament champion earns an automatic berth into the NCAA DIII Tournament.
The 2016 NCAA New England Regional Tournament begins on May 13th.
In 2015, Saint Joseph's College posted a 27-13 overall record with a 16-6 mark in GNAC play en route to earning the #3 seed in the conference tournament, which was played in East Boston, Massachusetts. The Monks opened tourney play with a loss to Emmanuel College but remained in contention for the program's fifth-consecutive conference title with losers' bracket wins over top-seeded Suffolk University and Emmanuel before falling to Johnson & Wales University, 4-2.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
