STATE COLLEGE, Pa., November 6, 2000 - The Penn State softball team will open the 2001 season at the Texas A&M University Tournament. Besides the host Texas A&M, the tournament will also feature Texas A&M Corpus Christi and NCAA Final Eight participant Alabama. The Nittany Lions are looking to follow up last season's successes with another solid year.

The Nittany Lions will play two games each on February 24 and 25 in Las Vegas, Nev., against UNLV.

Following the games at UNLV, the Lions will spend their Spring Break in Tampa, Fla. Penn State will begin the trip with a single game against Boston University on March 5 and on March 6 will play Central Michigan in a doubleheader. March 8 marks the first day of the South Florida Tournament, which will go on until March 11. The Lions will have a big test on their hands, opening traditional powerhouse Stanford. Besides host South Florida, the Nittany Lions are scheduled to play Georgia Tech, Tennessee Tech and Boston University.

In the final in-season tournament, Penn State will head South for the University of Virginia Tournament. The teams will play doubleheaders on each day from March 23 through March 25. Bowling Green State and Liberty are also set to participate in the tournament. The Nittany Lions will host St. Francis (Pa.) in the home opener on March 27 and will open the Big Ten slate at home, as well, against Northwestern (March 30).

Besides the Wildcats, the Lions will play host to Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State for key conference games and will be on the road at Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State. Penn State also has three more non-conference home games slated against Akron (April 10) Maryland (April 18), and will end the home portion of the schedule on April 24 against Syracuse.

The Big Ten regular season champion will have home-field advantage, hosting the conference tournament May 10-13.

Coming off of a very successful season, reaching the NCAA Regional finals for the first time under head coach Robin Petrini and for the first time since 1985, the Lions will be setting their sights on May 18 when the regional tournament begins.

"It is a great schedule. It is the toughest we'll face since I have been here," comments Petrini. "We face Alabama who made it to the Final Eight, and Stanford is one of the top Pac-10 teams. In the Big Ten, Michigan and Iowa are always tough. We are looking forward to great competition all spring."

 2001 PENN STATE SOFTBALL SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME Feb. 16-18 at Texas A&M University Tournament all day Feb. 16 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi College Station, Texas 11 a.m. Feb. 16 at Texas A&M College Station, Texas 5:45 p.m. Feb. 17 vs. Alabama College Station, Texas 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at Texas A&M College Station, Texas 5:45 p.m. Feb. 18 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi College Station, Texas 9 a.m. Feb. 18 vs. Alabama College Station, Texas 11 a.m. Feb. 24 at Nevada-Las Vegas (DH) Las Vegas, Nev. TBA Feb. 25 at Nevada-Las Vegas (DH) Las Vegas, Nev. TBA Mar. 5 vs. Boston University Tampa, Fla. 12 noon Mar. 6 vs. Central Michigan (DH) Tampa, Fla. TBA Mar. 8-11 at University of South Florida Tournament Mar. 8 vs. Stanford Tampa, Fla. 11 a.m. Mar. 8 at South Florida Tampa, Fla. 5 p.m. Mar. 9 vs. Georgia Tech Tampa, Fla. 10 a.m. Mar. 9 vs. Boston University Tampa, Fla. 4 p.m. Mar. 10 vs. Tennessee Tech Tampa, Fla. 2 p.m. Mar. 10 vs. TBA Tampa, Fla. TBA Mar. 11 vs. TBA Tampa, Fla. TBA Mar. 23-25 at University of Virginia Tournament Mar. 23 vs. Bowling Green State (DH) Charlottesville, Va. 1 p.m. Mar. 24 vs. Liberty (DH) Charlottesville, Va. 9 a.m. Mar. 25 vs. Virginia (DH) Charlottesville, Va. 1 p.m. Mar. 27 ST. FRANCIS (PA.) (DH) University Park, Pa. 6 p.m. Mar. 30 NORTHWESTERN* (DH) University Park, Pa. 2 p.m. Mar. 31 IOWA* University Park, Pa. 6 p.m. Apr. 1 IOWA* University Park, Pa. 12 noon Apr. 4 at Kent State (DH) Kent, Ohio 3 p.m. Apr. 7 ILLINOIS* University Park, Pa. 6 p.m. Apr. 8 ILLINOIS* University Park, Pa. 12 noon Apr. 10 AKRON (DH) University Park, Pa. 3 p.m. Apr. 13 Purdue* (DH) West Lafayette, Ind. 2 p.m. Apr. 14 Indiana* Bloomington, Ind. 2 p.m. Apr. 15 Indiana* Bloomington, Ind. 1 p.m. Apr. 18 MARYLAND (DH) University Park, Pa. 3 p.m. Apr. 20 MICHIGAN* (DH) University Park, Pa. 2 p.m. Apr. 21 MICHIGAN STATE * University Park, Pa. 6 p.m. Apr. 22 MCHIGAN STATE* University Park, Pa. 12 noon Apr. 24 SYRACUSE (DH) University Park, Pa. 4 p.m. Apr. 27 at Minnesota* (DH) Minneapolis, Minn. 2 p.m. Apr. 28 at Wisconsin* Madison, Wis. 2 p.m. Apr. 29 at Wisconsin* Madison, Wis. 1 p.m. May 5 at Ohio State * Columbus, Ohio 2 p.m. May 6 at Ohio State * Columbus, Ohio 1 p.m. May 10-13 Big Ten Tournament TBA all day May 18-20 NCAA Regional Tournament TBA all day May 24-27 NCAA Women's College World Series TBA all day * indicates Big Ten game; CAPS indicates home game DH indicates double headers --LIONS--