MARTIN, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Martin head softball coach Brian Dunn has announced the team’s 2024 schedule which features four tournament appearances and 22 home games sprinkled across a 55-game slate.
The Skyhawks will face off against four NCAA Tournament participants with Eastern Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss and Southern Illinois. The squad will also leave the Volunteer State and travel to Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri. Meanwhile, the squad will compete in the 10-team OVC slate which will feature 27 conference games throughout the spring.
UT Martin makes its first appearance of the season when traveling to the Trojan Classic on Friday, Feb. 9 through Saturday, Feb. 10. The Skyhawks will square off against three Alabama programs with matchups against North Alabama, Samford and Troy (twice).
The following weekend will see the Skyhawks make the short trek over to Music City for the Roar City Classic hosted by Tennessee State running Friday, Feb. 16 through Saturday, Feb. 17. The Skyhawks are tentatively scheduled to play Indiana State, Saint Louis and Western Michigan in the tournament field.
The Skyhawks make their home debut on Tuesday, Feb. 20 when hosting NAIA foe Brescia for a doubleheader at Bettye Giles Field. Later that week, the squad will load up the bus and head to east Tennessee to compete in the Frost Classic hosted by Chattanooga from Friday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 25. The tournament field includes matchups against host Chattanooga along with Georgetown, Ohio, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Valpo.
Another midweek home game will see UT Martin play host to in-state foe Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Then the Skyhawks head to the Bluff City to take part in the Blues City Classic hosted by Memphis on March 1 through March 3. The five-game tournament will see the Skyhawks play Jackson State three times and the host Tigers twice.
Other midweek non-conference matchups feature contests against Murray State (March 6), Mississippi Valley State (March 20), Southern Illinois (March 26) and Rhodes College (Apr. 16) at home while hitting the road against Ole Miss (Apr. 2) and Austin Peay (Apr. 10). The Skyhawks will also play North Alabama on Apr. 24 in the program’s annual neutral site contest in Lexington, Tenn.
UT Martin opens OVC action with a three-game home series against new OVC foe Western Illinois on March 9-10 before also hosting SIUE (March 23-24), Southern Indiana (Apr. 6-7), Morehead State (Apr. 20-21) and Southeast Missouri (May 4-5). The conference road slate will see road matchups at Eastern Illinois (March 16-17), Tennessee State (March 29-30), Tennessee Tech (Apr. 13-14) and Lindenwood (Apr. 27-28).
The OVC Softball Championship is scheduled for May 8-11 and will be held at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria, Illinois. It marks the first time the event has been held at the venue and will be the 30th all-time OVC Softball Championship with the top-eight programs qualifying for the field. UT Martin will look to advance to its 13th OVC Softball Championship in the past 15 seasons.
