ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University softball program has officially passed the baton from MVSU Legend Lee Smith to Jimmy Buckner who will look to put his stamp on the university with a championship.
The Devilettes begin the 2022 campaign with three straight weekends filled with tournament action. The opening tournament will be the “Best on the Bayou Classic” hosted by Louisiana-Monroe from February 11-13 where the Green and White will play Syracuse, ULM, Evansville, Jacksonville State and Louisiana Tech.
The following weekend (February 18-20) will see the ladies participate in the “Black & Gold Invitational” at Southern Miss with its foes being the host Lady Eagles (twice), Louisiana-Monroe, and Houston Baptist.
The third and final tournament of the regular season takes place February 25-26 at JSU with a pair of matchups versus Southern and Tennessee-Martin during the “Capital City Invitational”.
A big test will await the Green and White on March 2 when it makes the short bus ride to Starkville for a rumble under the lights opposite Mississippi State.
A nine-day layoff will ensue before a stretch of three SWAC series’ in-a-row, starting with the home openers versus Alabama A&M on March 11-12 and followed by a trip to Florida A&M (March 18-19) before returning to Devilette Field for a three-game series with Bethune-Cookman (March 25-26).
Tuesday, March 29 the ladies will host its lone non-conference home doubleheader against Rust College in a mid-week matinee then its back to SWACtion at Jackson State (April 1-2) and home versus Alabama State (April 8-9).
Valley will then spend the following week away from the friendly confines of Itta Bena as it makes a return trek to Rust on April 13 in Holly Springs for a doubleheader before flying out to Daytona Beach to tangle with the Wildcats of B-CU (April 15-16).
The home finale for the Devilettes will come against FAMU on April 22 and 23 with the latter day honoring the seniors in a special Senior Day doubleheader.
MVSU wraps up the regular season against Alabama A&M in Huntsville from April 29-30.
If Mississippi Valley State finishes in fourth place or better in the six-team SWAC Eastern Division, they would earn a berth to the SWAC Tournament in Gulfport, Mississippi with a date to the NCAA Regionals on the line from May 10-13 at the Gulfport Sportsplex.
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