The Bulls begin their 2021 campaign on Feb. 13, look to build off a 16-9 finish in shortened 2020 season
TAMPA, FLA. Feb. 1, 2021 – University of South Florida softball head coach Ken Eriksen announced the program’s 2021 schedule on Friday.
The Bulls will play 32 of their 45 NCAA contests at the USF Softball Stadium, including multiple series against ranked competition. The 2021 schedule also features a three-game set against the United States Olympic Team. For conference play, the 2021 slate includes a four-game series against each American Athletic Conference opponent.
“Our 2021 schedule will be different in the respect that the pandemic has forced us all to take a step back and work with each sport at USF with our game times and days that we play,” Eriksen said. “With a majority of our sports playing in the spring, we have made adjustments to ease the burden on all of our support staff. However, the familiar look of our schedule is still intact. We have scheduled the best out-of-conference games that this pandemic has allowed us. Our highly-regarded conference will once again be challenging every weekend. As always, we look forward to another entertaining year.”
Due to virus mitigation measures and the size of the venue, USF will have limited fan attendance via pass list only at USF Softball Stadium.
All of the Bulls’ regular-season home games will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform.
The Bulls begin the year with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 13 against No. 6/7 Florida, followed by the final game of the weekend series with the Gators on Sunday, Feb. 14.
USF then plays two consecutive doubleheaders against North Florida (Feb. 18) and Jacksonville (Feb. 21).
The Bulls return to a series format for three games against Florida Atlantic split between Feb. 27 and 28, followed by a two-game sets against No. 3/3 Arizona (March 6-7) and New Mexico State (March 10). The United States Olympic Team joins USF’s schedule for a three-game set in a rematch of the Stand Beside Her Tour opener last year between March 12-14. South Florida then closes out the bulk of its non-conference schedule with a three-game set against North Dakota on March 19 and 20.
Eriksen’s squad begins conference play against Memphis on March 26, followed by a doubleheader against the Tigers on March 27 and the final game of the series on March 28. Less than a week later, the Bulls head to Texas for a four-game set against Houston beginning with a doubleheader on Thursday, April 1, followed by single games on April 2 and 3.
The remaining slate of conference games for the Bulls feature doubleheaders on Friday, followed by single games on Saturday and Sunday. USF hosts Tulsa from April 9-11 and East Carolina from April 30-May 2. The team also travels to Wichita State (April 23-25) and No. 21/25 UCF (May 7-9).
In between conference series, the Bulls play two last non-conference opponents. The team finishes the four-game regular season series against Florida with a trip to Gainesville, Fla. on April 7 for a single game and hosts Florida Gulf Coast for a three-game set on April 17-18.
View the entire 2021 schedule HERE.
The Bulls retain nearly all of their 2020 squad that finished 16-9 before the season was cut short due to COVID-19. AnaMarie Bruni (Schwenksville, Pa.), who hit .476 in 82 at-bats last season, and Georgina Corrick, who was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Watch List and tossed 97.1 innings with a 1.29 ERA in 2020, both return to the squad, as does head coach Eriksen, who took a leave of absence to guide the US Olympic Team through its pre-Olympic Stand Beside Her tour.
The team is currently receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Softball Poll and was selected to finish second in the American Athletic Conference by the league’s coaches.
The American Athletic Conference and ESPN began a new 12-year television rights agreement starting in 2020-21. USF will stream numerous home athletic events to ESPN+ this spring. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
About USF Softball
Be sure to follow USF softball on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. The USF softball program has been one of the most successful on campus, making 15 NCAA tournament appearances, including a trip to the Women’s College World Series in 2012.
– #GoBulls –
