Dartmouth Softball Releases its 2010 Schedule

HANOVER, N.H. – The defending North Division Ivy League Champion Dartmouth softball team has released its 2010 schedule as announced today by head coach Christine Vogt. The Big Green finished the 2009 campaign with a 23-23 overall record, 13-7 in the league setting 26 new team and individual records.

Last season's strength of schedule topped other Ivy League teams at 99th in the country out of all 284 Division I programs. This resulted in the Big Green boasting a final RPI of 136, good enough for a second place ranking in the league. The 2010 schedule features eight teams who made last year's NCAA tournament and is shaping up to be equally as challenging as last year's list of opponents.

The team kicks off this season's campaign by heading south to the Buzz Classic Tournament hosted by Georgia Tech. The season opener is against MAC foe Bowling Green State University, followed by Liberty University. Other opponents include Western Carolina and Georgia State, and the tournament finishes off with Georgia Tech, who was ranked as high as 13th in the country and made it to the Super Regionals a year ago.

After winter exams conclude, the team flies to sunny Florida for spring break.The Big Green starts the trip off with Long Island University. Over the first weekend the team will compete in the University of South Florida Invitational in Clearwater, Florida. Dartmouth will open tournament play with Oklahoma State, a team that was one game away from advancing to the Super Regionals last season, and the University of North Florida. Day two will feature games against the surging Maryland Terps squad who made it to the ACC Championship game last season and finishes up with 2009 NCAA tournament participant Illinois. The last day of the tournament the Big Green will take on Florida Atlantic University, a perennial powerhouse in the Sun Belt Conference.

Midweek the team will travel to Ft. Myers for a double header against a familiar team in Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagles led the country in a number of offensive categories last season. The trip will wrap up with a single game against the University of South Florida, an annual Big East title contender. Before returning to Hanover, the Big Green will stop in Boston to face America East Conference champion Boston University, a team who won a handful of NCAA Regional games last season.

There is no rest for the weary as Dartmouth then heads down Route 91 to another familiar venue at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. A perennial Regional powerhouse, UMass finished their NCAA season last year with a loss to eventual national champion, University of Washington.

The start of the Big Green's Ivy League season opens with defending Ivy League champ Cornell, followed by a trip down to Princeton. Next brings two home weekends in a row, with Columbia and the Penn coming to town, followed by the opening of the North Division with a four game series against Yale. After an away series with Brown, the Big Green will close out its regular season with a home-and-home series against Harvard.

Rounding out Dartmouth's schedule are some mid week games against 2009 NCAA participant Sacred Heart, University of Connecticut, as well as Albany and Boston College. The 2010 schedule will once again challenge the Big Green by playing some of the best competition in the Northeast.

Dartmouth will host 14 games at Sachem Field, where the 2009 team boasted an 8-4 record.

The complete schedule can be found here.