HACKENSACK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson softball team and head coach Chris Foye released the 2019 spring schedule Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Knights, who finished the 2018 season with a 17-26 overall record and an 8-8 mark in Northeast Conference games, are slated to compete in a total of 55 games beginning February 16 when they travel to Louisiana. The challenging schedule includes opponents from 14 different conferences as well as four 2018 NCAA tournament teams and six teams who won upwards of 30 games last season. Other highlights to the schedule are trips to California, Baltimore, and Philadelphia as well as 14 home games to be played at the FDU Softball Field.
 
"After a successful spring in 2018, we are ready to take another step forward this year towards our goal of winning an NEC championship," said Coach Foye. "We return all of our starters but one and have added seven freshmen that have the ability to make contributions right away, which is exciting. The team has great chemistry both on and off the field and has been working extremely hard this fall and I expect that to carry over to our upcoming season. I have a good feeling that this year's team could be special. We will be playing several top-quality opponents that were added to our out-of-conference schedule who I feel will prepare us for an always tough battle in the NEC."
 
FDU kicks off their 2019 campaign against several top-quality opponents at the Louisiana Tech University Invitational with the four-game tournament that will feature the host Bulldogs (34-23), Southeast Missouri State (33-20), Abilene Christian, and 2018 NCAA Regional contender Wichita State (32-23). The Knights will finish out their trip with games against Northwestern State and Southern University later in the week. All but Northwestern State are opponents the Knights have never faced before this upcoming year.
 
The Knights will spend the next weekend in Baltimore for three games before heading west to California where they will play 10 games over a span of nine days. The Knights will face defending Mountain West champions, Boise State, as well as University of the Pacific, Sacramento State, who won the Big Sky championship, St. Mary's College, UC Davis and Marist during the trip. FDU will play Sacramento State three times; Pacific, St. Mary's and Marist twice; and Boise State, a new opponent for the Knights, along with UC Davis just once.
 
Shortly after their return to the East Coast, the Knights plan to travel down the NJ turnpike to face in-state rival St. Peter's on March 19 in a doubleheader, followed by another away doubleheader at Hartford on March 27.
 
The Knights' home opener as well as their first NEC matchup of the season both fall on the same date, March 30, when they will take on Sacred Heart in a doubleheader. FDU also will host LIU Brooklyn the following day before they are back on the road to face Drexel in Philadelphia and NEC-foe Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
 
Two straight non-conference doubleheaders are next, with Coppin State and Iona coming to Hackensack before the Knights return to NEC play with doubleheaders at Bryant and Central Connecticut State.
 
The final non-conference road games of the season will take place at Rider, followed by six straight home games for the Knights. FDU will host both Saint Francis U, the defending NEC champs, and Robert Morris the following weekend.
 
FDU will play their last non-conference and mid-week game at home against Lafayette before concluding their regular season at Wagner on April 27.
 
The Knights return all but two players from last season's team and added seven freshmen in its recruiting class. Last season, FDU tied for fourth place in the NEC standings, missing out on the NEC Tournament on a tiebreaker. The 8-8 record in conference was the team's best finish in the NEC since 2015, the last time the Knights made the NEC tournament after going 10-6 in the league and finishing in third place.