Softball Announces 2025 Schedule
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) softball team and 20th-year head coach Jim McKinnon have announced the schedule for the upcoming 2025 season. Highlighting the 39-game regular-season slate are 16 home games, which are set to be played on the USJ Softball Field on the campus of USJ.
The softball team begins the 2025 slate with a trip down to Naples, Fla., for the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic from Saturday March 8, through Thursday, March 13. While in the Sunshine State, the Blue Jays will meet Bethany College, Wisconsin-Superior, Westfield State, Alfred State, the Rochester Institute of Technology, Lesley, La Roche, and SUNY Potsdam on the diamond.
After the trip down south, USJ returns to West Hartford for its 2025 home opener, hosting a doubleheader against Bay Path University at the USJ Softball Field on Saturday March 22. The Blue Jays then make the trek down Albany Avenue, heading to crosstown foe the University of Hartford for a single game on Thursday, March 27. The team then travels down to the Big Apple for a doubleheader against Baruch College on Friday, March 28 in New York City, before opening Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on the road at rivals Albertus Magnus College on Sunday, March 30. The Blue Jays and Falcons are scheduled to play a doubleheader down in New Haven.
As the calendar flips over to April, the Blue Jays begin a four-game homestand, starting with a doubleheader against Mitchell College on Wednesday, April 2, before hosting Elms College for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 5. The team then heads to Weston, Mass., facing off with Regis College for a doubleheader on Sunday, April 6. USJ then returns to the USJ Softball Field for eight consecutive home games. The team first steps out of conference play, hosting John Jay College during a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 8. USJ then returns to conference play with a doubleheader against Dean on Sunday, April 13, before returning to non-conference action with a doubleheader against Massachusetts Maritime on Tuesday, April 15. The Blue Jays round out the eight-game stretch with a non-conference doubleheader against Anna Maria College on Thursday, April 17.
USJ heads on the road for its next four games, starting with a trip to Nashua, N.H., to face Rivier University during a GNAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 19. The Blue Jays then play their final non-conference contests of the 2025 season on Wednesday, April 23, traveling to Danbury, Conn., to face intrastate foes Western Connecticut State University during a doubleheader. The final stretch of the season sees USJ play its final regular season home games on Saturday, April 26, hosting Johnson & Wales University for a doubleheader, before rounding out the year in Newton, Mass., on Sunday April 27, facing Lasell University during a doubleheader.
The top five teams in the North and South Divisions will advance to the 2025 GNAC Playoffs, with a single-elimination First Round game set to take place on Tuesday, April 29 at the site of the fourth seed in each division. The GNAC Tournament then enters a double-elimination portion, as the remaining teams play in a pod format from Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4 at the site of the top-seeds in both divisions to determine the two participants for the GNAC Championship. The 2025 GNAC Championship will be a best-of-three series, held at the site of the top-seed in the South Division on Friday, May 9 and Saturday May 10.
The Blue Jays are coming off a 2024 season in which USJ finished 16-23 overall and advanced to the GNAC Playoffs as the fifth seed from the South Division. The Blue Jays were matched up against rivals Albertus Magnus College in the First Round, where the Falcons defeated the Blue Jays, 3-1, to end USJ's season.
Admission to all USJ regular-season softball games in 2025 are free of charge.
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