Complete 2022 Schedule

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Twenty-five home games, including a pair of tournaments, and the return of a full Colonial Athletic Association slate highlight the College of Charleston's 2022 softball schedule, head coach Tracey Lynch announced Friday.

The Cougars face four teams that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament and eight that finished the 2021 season ranked in the RPI Top 75. 

"Team 30 (referencing the 30th year of the CofC softball program) has been diligent in their training this fall, and we have been detailed with our workouts with sights set on the 2022 season," said Lynch.

"There is energy, excitement and a lot of drive behind this team of 22 athletes."

CofC opens the campaign the weekend of Feb. 11-13 with five games in Alabama, including three against teams that made the postseason last year. Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley) and Alabama State (SWAC) were conference champions, and Troy received an at-large bid out of the Sun Belt.

The next two weekends see tournament action at Patriots Point. The Charleston Invitational on Feb. 18-20 includes Valparaiso, Binghamton, Holy Cross and Lipscomb, and the Cougar Classic on Feb. 25-27 has a field of Appalachian State, UConn and Western Carolina.

The final tournament takes place in Nashville on March 4-6 with the Cougars facing Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) and Dayton twice and host Lipscomb once. 

In addition to tournament play, the Cougars host non-conference opponents Winthrop (March 9), East Carolina (March 19-20) and Charleston Southern (April 20). CofC will travel to South Carolina (March 16), Coastal Carolina (March 23), Furman (March 30) and Winthrop (April 13).

Among non-conference opponents, Southern Illinois was 48th in the final RPI rankings, followed by Troy (51), South Carolina (56) and SEMO (62).

"Our spring schedule will allow us to play at a high level and give us the opportunity to prepare for our conference opponents," said Lynch. "We are excited about hosting tournaments with the upgrades to our facility that will be taking place."

CofC face all seven CAA opponents beginning with a visit from Drexel on March 26-27. The Cougars also host James Madison (April 15-16) and Towson (April 30-May 1) and play at Hofstra (April 2-3), Elon (April 9-10), UNCW (April 23-24) and Delaware (May 6-7).

JMU, which is ineligible for the CAA championship after announcing its move to the Sun Belt, reached the semifinals of the College World Series last spring and was 11th in the RPI, with Delaware (27), Drexel (52) and Hofstra (65) also finishing in the Top 75.

The CAA Tournament takes place May 11-13 at a site to be determined.

"We are looking forward to welcoming teams to our beautiful city and filling the stands with Cougar faithful and gaining new fans for the New Era of Charleston softball," said Lynch.