Softball | 10/24/2022 2:08:00 PM
MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry University head softball coach Sean Cotter announces a 56-game regular-season schedule for 2023 with over 65 percent of the contests played on the friendly confines of the Buccaneers' home field which features lights and a natural grass surface.
Opening day for Barry University softball is Friday, February 3, 2023, when the Buccaneers welcome West Florida (30-15 in 2022; .667) to The Shores, for the first of three series with three of the top four teams from the Gulf South Conference. Following the Argonauts, Alabama-Huntsville (41-16 in 2022; .719) visits on Saturday, February 4, and then Valdosta State (38-14 in 2022; .731) arrives for the only morning start (11 a.m.) on the Buccaneer slate on Sunday, February 5.
The Bucs posted their first winning season in six years in 2022, going 29-22. They were led by the pitching duo of Maci Barnhart and Cassandra Lee, who both earned Second-Team All-Conference honors. Barnhart led the league in innings pitched and strikeouts, while both pitchers tossed no-hitters, the first for the Bucs since 2015. It was another banner year in the classroom as 14 more Bucs earned NFCA Scholar All-America. Barry opened its 2022 campaign with a 5-1 victory at West Florida in Pensacola, Fla.
"Coming off the success last year, and obviously a bunch of us being super close to a regional bid, we're continuing to upgrade the schedule," says Cotter, in his sixth season at the helm of the Bucs. "So, for us to be hosting three really good Gulf South opponents to start the year in West Florida, Alabama-Huntsville, and Valdosta, it's going to be like hosting a regional the first weekend of the season."
"So, we have to be totally ready to go there. When you look at the non-conference schedule as a whole with the three teams I mentioned, East Stroudsburg has been a regional team in the last couple years, West Liberty is always in the mix, and then Flagler which has been a really good regional opponent as well, and then you look at the spring break where we're playing up at North Georgia who's a traditional top ten or top five team. Then we host Texas-Tyler who went to the World Series in their first year of eligibility in Division Two, that's just a whale of a schedule."
Before the Bucs face a Sunshine State Conference (SSC) foe, they will already have played 11 games against participants in the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships (Valdosta State, North Georgia, Texas-Tyler, Caldwell, Kutztown).
"Then getting into our conference which had four teams getting bids last year (including) three at-large bids, the conference is just getting better and better over the last couple of years. Every series is going to be its own battle throughout the course of the conference season so really excited about it."
Cotter will also be excited about returning three Buccaneers who played and started all 51 games in 2022 - Sofia Chamorro, Mac Stone-Folmar, and Becka Mellor. Chamorro had the most hits (39) and total bases (53) for Barry softball in 2022, and collected seven doubles, two triples, and a home run among her extra base hits. Lee and Stone-Folmar both drew 26 bases on balls, nine more than any other Buccaneer. Barry adds a dozen more contests against participants in the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships with its SSC slate featuring three-game series (Embry-Riddle, Nova Southeastern, Rollins, and Tampa).
2023 Buccaneer softball schedule:
Regular Season Games (56)
Home (37)
Away (19)
Neutral (0)
Florida (54)
Sunshine State Conference (30)
SSC at Buccaneer Softball Field (15)
2022 NCAA Division II National Championship Qualifier (23)
Morning Starts (1)
Afternoon Starts (34)
Evening Starts (21)
