The 2017 Piedmont College softball season is set to begin in just a few weeks and Head Coach Terry Martin has announced the 2017 schedule highlighted by the Piedmont Classic, a home tournament on February 18 & 19.
The Lady Lions will also head to the Grand Slam Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina for the second straight season.
Piedmont has a total of 22 contests scheduled to be played at Walker Athletic Complex this season including the season opener on Saturday, February 4 at noon for a doubleheader against Brenau University. This marks the first time since 2014 that the Gainesville, Georgia based school will travel to Demorest for contests on the diamond.
A week later, the Lady Lions will hit the road to take on Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama on February 11th with games set for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. The Lady Lions were 1-2 against the Panthers in 2016, a year that saw the BSC squad post a 37-10 record. The third time these two teams met last season was at the Mount Berry Regional in the NCAA Tournament where the Panthers won 6-4.
Next up on the schedule is the host of the Mount Berry Regional from last season, the Berry College Vikings who lost in the regional final to Emory. The Vikings were 39-8 last season and won the SAA Tournament Championship over Birmingham-Southern.
The Piedmont Classic features four teams as Piedmont plays host to Greensboro, Millsaps and Emory & Henry College. Piedmont will face Greensboro on February 18 at noon followed by Millsaps at 4:30 p.m. later that day. The Lady Lions will then take on Emory & Henry on February 19 at 9:00 a.m. and have a rematch with Millsaps at 1:30 p.m. There will be a total of four games each day with each team playing two games per day.
Piedmont will then head to the Grand Slam Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina the next weekend for games on February 25-26. On the 25, Piedmont will face Olivet College at 9:00 a.m. and Christopher Newport at 3:00 p.m. then on Sunday PC will take on Emory University at 9:00 a.m. and Averett University at 11:00 a.m.
Following the two tournaments, Piedmont will begin the conference portion of the schedule taking on Wesleyan College on February 28 at 2 & 4 in Macon, Georgia. The Lady Lions will play the first three doubleheaders of the conference schedule on the road this season heading to LaGrange March 4 for games at 1 & 3 and Huntingdon on March 5 with games at 12 & 2.
The Lady Lions will then return home for the longest home stretch of the season with 10 games played from March 7-March 22 at Walker Athletic Complex. Piedmont will host Christopher Newport to begin the home stretch on March 7 stepping outside of conference play for one of the final times in 2017. This will mark the second game against Christopher Newport as the two are set to meet at the Grand Slam Tournament as well.
The busiest week of home competition begins on Wednesday, March 15 as Piedmont hosts Agnes Scott, followed by a Friday doubleheader against William Peace University on March 17. On March 18, N.C. Wesleyan will be in action at Walker Athletic Complex and Salem College will conclude the home stand on Wednesday, March 22 as Piedmont hosts eight games in eight days. Piedmont was 4-2 against those four teams last season.
Piedmont will make the conference trip to Virginia to take on Ferrum and Mary Baldwin next with a doubleheader against the Panthers on March 24 and a twinbill against the Fighting Squirrels on March 25.
The Lady Lions will then end the regular season at home with a doubleheader against DePauw on March 28, then host conference foe Maryville College on March 31 and Covenant College on April 1.
The path leads to the 2017 USA South Championship Tournament in LaGrange, Georgia as part of the USA South Spring Sports Festival on April 7-15. This marks the first season the tournament has been in LaGrange as the Spring Sports Festival moves to the peach state from Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
The Lady Lions claimed another USA South regular season championship in 2016 with a 16-4 record in conference play and a 29-15 overall record in Head Coach Terry Martin’s 18th season. The regular season championship marked the third in four seasons for the Lady Lions and the ninth earned since the 2002 season.
The 2017 season begins on February 4 at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader against Brenau University at Walker Athletic Complex. Live broadcast coverage will be available for all home contests through the Mane Event Broadcasting Network as well as live stats for all home games provided by the Office of Athletic Communications.
Piedmont Lions Sports Information
