Returning eight starters
The defending Patriot League champion Colgate softball team kicks off its 40-game regular season schedule Feb. 22-23 at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte 1st Pitch Classic.
The Raiders will play four games in the 1st Pitch Classic against the host school UNC-Charlotte, Stony Brook, Kent State and USC Upstated during the two-day tournament.
Colgate returns north for a doubleheader at Fairleigh Dickinson on March 8, before participating in the Rebel Spring Games in Osceola, Florida on March 16-21. The Raiders will play against Florida A&M, Iona, Rider, Hartford, Akron, Dayton, Columbia, and Siena.
Colgate opens its Patriot League season on March 29-30 in a four-game home series against Holy Cross. They will host Army in league play at the Eaton Street Field in Hamilton, while traveling to Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh.
Other non-conference doubleheaders are scheduled at Binghamton (April 1) and Siena (April 23), and home against Binghamton (May 12).
The Patriot League Tournament is slated for May 8-10 at the home site of the regular season champion.
The Raiders return eight starters and 16 letter winners from last year’s team that won the school’s third Patriot League title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
