The softball team opened its home season earlier than expected.
The Cougars were supposed to open the season at South Carolina in the Palmetto State Showdown last weekend, but the winter weather canceled the event.
Instead, the Cougars opened the season at home Feb. 14 against Charleston Southern. Charleston dropped both games of the doubleheader, losing the first game 6-4 and the second 4-2.
The 53-game schedule for the 2010 season features three regular season tournaments, contests against four 2009 NCAA Tournament teams and a 28-game home slate.
The Cougars, who finished 23-26 overall and 14-9 in the Southern Conference last season, will play 28 games at Patriots Point and 25 on the road.
C of C returns 13 players from last year’s squad, including a number of top performers and a strong recruiting class. Headlining the group is senior third baseman Kristie Shifflett, the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year, and fellow First-Team selection sophomore outfielder Katie Forbes. Shifflett batted a team-high .360 a year ago with 10 homeruns and 43 RBIs while Forbes hit .297 with a homerun and 20 RBIs while playing the outfield and pitching.
In the circle, senior Terri Mesko returns following a season in which she broke the Cougars’ all-time strikeout mark.