POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist Athletics Department has released the softball team's 2018 schedule. The Red Foxes are set to play 56 regular-season games this year in nine different states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, and California).
 
Here is a breakdown of the 2018 season:­
 
Tournaments
The team will play in a total of five tournaments, all of which will be on the road. For the first tournament, the Red Foxes will travel to Madeira Beach, Florida for the Madeira Beach Invitational, in which the team will face Villanova (Feb. 23), Arkansas (Feb. 23), Rhode Island (Feb. 24), Middle Tennessee State (Feb. 25), and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 25).
 
The next weekend the Red Foxes will travel to Boiling Springs, North Carolina to compete in the Red and Black Tournament. There, the team will face off against North Carolina Central twice (March 2 & 3) and Gardner-Webb thrice (March 2, 3 & 4).
 
The following weekend, the team will head to San Luis Obispo, California to participate in the ShareSLO Mustang Classic. Marist will face Santa Clara twice (March 9 & 10), Cal Poly twice (March 9 & 10), and North Dakota (March 11).
 
After that, the Red Foxes will participate in the Reveille Classic in College Station, Texas. They will compete against Connecticut twice (March 16 & 17), Texas A&M twice (March 16 & 18), and Michigan State (March 17).
 
The team's final tournament will be the RDU/RTP Challenge in Raleigh North Carolina. While there, they will play Kennesaw State (March 23), North Carolina State (March 23), and MAAC rival Niagara (March 24). The teams will then be seeded, and play semifinals the afternoon on March 24. The consolation and championship games will take place on March 25.
 
Non-Conference Doubleheaders
Marist is set to match up against five non-conference foes in doubleheaders. The Red Foxes will open the season at Coppin State the weekend of Feb. 17-18, with a single game on Feb. 17 and doubleheader on Feb. 18.
 
The Red Foxes will have two home match-ups held at Gartland Field: Army (April 4) and UMass (April 12). The other non-conference opponents on the road will be  Sam Houston State (March 13) and Lafayette (May 2).
 
MAAC Opponents
Marist will play 10 conference doubleheaders, one against each Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference competitor. The teams that will make the trip to Poughkeepsie this year are Niagara (April 7), Canisius (April 8), Quinnipiac (April 14), Manhattan (April 28), and Saint Peter's (April 29).
 
The Red Foxes will travel to Fairfield (April 15), Siena (April 19), Iona (April 22), Monmouth (May 5), and Rider (May 6).
 
MAAC Championships
The top six finishers in MAAC regular season play will qualify for the conference championships, which will take place from May 9-13. The team which earns the #1 seed will host.
 
In 2017, the Marist softball team went 37-22 and finished in third place in the regular-season MAAC standings. Under the leadership of 10^th year head coach Joe Ausanio, the Red Foxes have put together seven straight winning seasons. Marist has three NCAA Regional appearances in its history: 2006, 2013, and 2016.