NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Seventh-year head coach Kayla Hatting and the St. Olaf College softball program announced the Oles' 40-game schedule for the 2023 season on Thursday.
In addition to 11 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) doubleheaders, St. Olaf will play eight dome games over two weekends to start the season before heading to Florida and Georgia for 10 more contests. The Oles are slated to play 10 home games at Mabel Shirley Field where St. Olaf is 31-4 since the start of the 2019 season. The 14 non-conference opponents St. Olaf will face in 2023 combined for a record of 351-198 (.639) record last spring and five of the teams appeared in last season's NCAA Tournament.
"Our coaching staff continues to be excited for the, once again, extremely tough road of opponents we have ahead of us," Hatting said. "The dome games prove to be a big challenge and the opportunity to again round off our Spring Break trip in Florida with a trip to Georgia to face two renowned programs is one we couldn't pass up! All of this leads into a stacked MIAC season. We are looking ahead only one day at a time but have our eyes on a fun season ahead."
Hatting's team will open the season with four games in Mankato at the Bethany Kwik Trip Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25-26. Three of the four teams – Bethany Lutheran College, Buena Vista University, and UW-Eau Claire – the Oles will face on opening weekend qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago and all four won at least 23 games in 2022.
The following weekend, St. Olaf heads to Rochester for four more games, opening the weekend with two more contests against UW-Eau Claire on Saturday, March 4 before facing UW-La Crosse and Luther College the next day. The Oles and Eagles have played just twice since 2009 – both St. Olaf wins – while the last three meetings between St. Olaf and Luther since 2018 have all been one-run games.
After a break of over two weeks, St. Olaf ventures south to The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla. from Thursday, March 23 through Saturday, March 25. In The Sunshine State, the Oles play three more Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) programs in UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Whitewater, plus Grinnell College, Hope College, and Millikin University. The meeting with Millikin will mark the first-ever matchup between the two programs and the Big Blue are coming off a season that saw them be one of the last eight teams standing in the NCAA Tournament.
The Oles will wrap up their southern trip in Georgia with a doubleheader against Piedmont University on Monday, March 27 followed by single games against Emory University on Tuesday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 28. Piedmont finished last season ranked No. 20 by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and last season's twin bills were the first-ever meetings in both series.
After returning home to Minnesota, St. Olaf will open MIAC play with back-to-back road doubleheaders at the College of Saint Benedict (April 1) and Macalester College (April 2) before hosting Gustavus Adolphus College in its home opener on Wednesday, April 5. Five of the Oles' first seven conference doubleheaders will be on the road, including three in a row from April 11-16.
St. Olaf concludes the regular season by playing three of its final four twin bills at Mabel Shirley Field, including hosting reigning conference champion Bethel University on Sunday, April 23. The Oles will celebrate Senior Day on the final day of the regular season against St. Catherine University on Saturday, April. 29.
