2019 LIU Brooklyn Softball Schedule
BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- LIU Brooklyn softball head coach Roy Kortmann has released the team's 2019 schedule, featuring six non-conference tournaments to lead off a 53-game slate. The Blackbirds will open the season on Friday, February 8 in Fort Meyers, Fla. Last season, LIU advanced to the NEC Championship game for the 16th time in 23 years during Kortmann's tenure.
LIU will open the year at the Florida Gulf Coast Kickoff Classic in Fort Myers from February 8-10. The Blackbirds are scheduled to face Ball State in their season premiere on Feb. 8, followed by a pair of games against Kent State (Feb. 8-9) and FGCU (Feb. 9-10).
The team's second tournament will be the Diamond 9 Citrus Blossom Tournament in Orlando from February 15-17. LIU will face Bethune-Cookman and UMass on Feb. 16, Villanova and Troy on Feb. 17, and close with nearby Stetson on Sunday morning, Feb. 17.
The Blackbirds will keep making a beeline to the northeast part of Florida for their third event of the early season, making the school's first appearance in the Jacksonville Classic, hosted by Jacksonville, from Feb. 22-24. LIU will open that event against Harvard on that Friday, then play a pair against Delaware, before facing the host Dolphins twice to finish up the event.
The team will then head to the Golden State for their second new destination in 2019, the Gaucho Classic, hosted by Cal-Santa Barbara to begin March. On March 1, LIU will take on Bowling Green and the Gauchos, followed by California and Pacific on Sat., March 2, with a second matchup against Pacific on Sun., March 3.
LIU will return to Florida for its final pair of tournaments, beginning in Boca Raton for the FAU/FIU Parents' Weekend Tournament from March 8-10. The team begins with Florida A&M, East Carolina and Illinois State at Florida Atlantic on Friday and Saturday, before moving over to Miami for the final day to face Yale and Florida International on Sunday.
The final tournament for the Blackbirds will be the USF-Michelle Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational, hosted by South Florida from March 15-17. LIU will play FGCU on Friday, immediately followed by UT-Chattanooga on Friday night. On Saturday, the Blackbirds will face Buffalo and Towson, before wrapping up their out-of-state non-conference schedule on Sunday against Brown.
On Wed., March 20, the Blackbirds will go east to Hempstead, L.I. in their first local game, a 3:00 p.m. tilt with Hofstra. LIU will also host the Pride eight days later on LIU Field, one day after the home opener versus Columbia on Wed., March 27. The Blackbirds will play one additional non-conference home game against St. John's on April 3, while going on the road to face Stony Brook (April 17), Saint Peter's (April 25) and concluding the regular season slate at Rutgers on May 1.
Northeast Conference play will begin for LIU in Teaneck on March 31 with a doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson. The team will play another NEC road double dip the following Saturday (April 6), at Sacred Heart. After SHU, the Blackbirds will play all four of their NEC doubleheaders on consecutive weekends in April, leading off with Mount St. Mary's (April 13) and Bryant (April 14), and concluding with Central Connecticut (April 19) and Wagner (April 20).
The Blackbirds will make the Pennsylvania swing to finish April with the final two NEC doubleheaders, making the trip to Robert Morris on April 27 and Saint Francis U. on April 28, before the 2019 NEC Championships begin at the highest seed from May 9-11.