Softball announces 2017 schedule

Two weekends jumped off the page when Patrick Murphy looked at the University of Alabama softball team's 2017 schedule.

The first weekend in April and the first full weekend in May caught the eye of the head coach of the Crimson Tide. LSU visits April 7-9 for a three-game series and Auburn comes to Rhoads Stadium for a three-game set on May 5-7.

"The LSU series could set a record (for attendance) and Auburn could break it a few weeks later," Murphy said. "LSU and Auburn at home are going to be huge.

"It seems like it's been forever since Auburn played here. Having them at home to end the conference schedule is going to be fun."

Alabama will also host Arkansas on March 10-12 and South Carolina on March 24-26 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide will visit Mississippi State on March 17-19, Missouri on March 31-April 2, Tennessee on April 15-17 and Ole Miss on April 29-May 1.

"We get to play in Missouri's new stadium and that's always exciting to play in a brand new facility," Murphy said. "Tennessee we get to make two trips, hopefully: We play in the regular season and then play there in the conference tournament a few weeks after.

"The only one that we're flying to is Missouri, which is nice."

The Tennessee and Ole Miss series are scheduled for Saturday-Monday, so likely will involve televised games. Television dates for SEC play have not been yet announced.

Big names on Alabama's home out-of-conference schedule include Texas Tech in the Bama Bash on Feb. 24-26, Stanford in the Crimson Classic on March 3-5 and Washington on April 21-22. Stanford is making a visit to reciprocate UA's visit there last season, and Alabama will pay Washington back with a visit to Seattle next season.

Washington is a perennially ranked program.

"It's going to be a competitive series," Murphy said. "They'll be in the top 10 or top 15. It's going to pay off for both schools."

Alabama, which went 51-14 on the way to a seventh-ranked finish last season, will also visit Louisiana-Lafayette on Feb. 17-19 for a three-game series. The Ragin' Cajuns finished ranked No. 14 last season.

"That's going to be a great series down there," said Murphy, who noted that he got his career start at the school and that UA assistant coach Alyson Habetz played there. "We have three good games early on to give us a test for where we're at. It will be a good test, especially on the road. It will be like an SEC atmosphere, and that's one of the reasons why we're going."

Alabama will open its season Feb. 10-12 in a tournament at Coastal Carolina. The Crimson Tide's first home game will be Feb. 15 against South Alabama.

UA also has an in-state neutral-site game scheduled against Lipscomb in Florence on April 5.

2017 Alabama Softball Schedule

Feb. 10-12 Coastal Carolina Tournament*

(Coastal Carolina, Towson State, Youngstown State)

Feb. 17-17 at Louisiana-Lafayette

Feb. 15 South Alabama

Feb. 22 North Florida

Feb. 24-26 Bama Bash

(Texas Tech, Gardner-Webb)

Feb. 28 at UAB

March 3-5 Crimson Classic

(Stanford, Jacksonville, Drake)

March 7 Loyola-Chicago

March 8 Valparaiso

March 10-12 Arkansas

March 15 Winthrop/Georgia Southern

(Doubleheader)

March 17-19 at Mississippi State

March 24-26 South Carolina

March 28 Kent State

March 31-April 2 at Missouri

April 4 Lipscomb+

April 7-9 LSU

April 11 UAB

April 15-17 at Tennessee

April 19 Southern Miss

April 21-22 Washington

April 25 at Samford

April 29-May 1 at Ole Miss

May 5-7 Auburn

May 10-13 SEC Tournament#

*Myrtle Beach, S.C.

+Florence

#Knoxville, Tenn.