STATESBORO, Ga. – It may be the non-conference portion of the Tennessee Tech softball team's schedule as they open up the 2017 slate at the Eagle Round Robin on Friday, but that doesn't mean the Golden Eagles are taking it lightly.

 

Facing four difficult opponents, including UNC Greensboro at 9 a.m. and Tennessee at 11 a.m., then taking on Middle Tennessee and host Georgia Southern on Saturday, has a long-term goal for Tech in getting them better and prepared for the Ohio Valley Conference part of the schedule, which begins on March 25.

 

And head coach Bonnie Bynum Graham is looking forward to get the season started.

 

"I think the expectations are pretty high," Graham said. "Obviously, we don't want to go in overconfident, but I think we have a sense of what we need to do. Our girls have been working on preparing hard and everyone's just excited to get started."

 

It also helps that the Golden Eagles are bringing back an experienced group with six seniors who have an NCAA Tournament appearance under their belt and anxious to head back to that postseason tournament.

 

"We've got six seniors on this team that are leading us," Graham said. "All six of them play key roles, so I think their leadership and what they bring to the table is going to propel us to a great season."

 

Tech also has a talented group of newcomers on this year's team, and they're looking to make a impact.

 

"I think they'll play a good role for us," Graham said. "We hope that we can get them some at-bats. With Kayla (Hughes) in the circle, I hope we can get her some innings pitched. Really the goal is to introduce them to this unknown level of college softball, and I think some people come into it really nervous in anticipation of what it's really going to be like that first weekend. Hopefully, we can get them some playing time and get that nervousness out of them."

 

Still, it's some pretty difficult competition to start off the season, but the Golden Eagles wouldn't have it any other way.

And even though it's not as crucial as the OVC slate when it comes to reaching the postseason, it's still important in getting the team to that state Graham wants them in and for the players to learn just what they're capable of.

"We want as many wins as possible," Graham said, "but the goal in this part of the season, before we start conference play, is that we get all of those things ironed out, things that we need to work on, so by the time we step on the field for our first conference game, we're ready to go."

Live stats for each of the Golden Eagles games will be available online. Updates will also be available online on the Tech Softball Twitter feed and on TTUSports.com.