By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With the fall semester already progressing, the spring sports teams are already getting prepared for their preseason.

With that, the Tennessee Tech softball team has scheduled three fall doubleheaders, designed to give the Golden Eagles a much-needed workout.

Among the fall slate is a home doubleheader on Sept. 30 as Tech hosts Georgia Highlands College at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., then the Golden Eagles take to the road on Oct. 7 to face Chattanooga State at noon and 2 p.m. Central, and wrap up the fall with a home twinbill on Oct. 14 as Tech hosts Cleveland State at 1 and 3 p.m.

"They're all good programs," said Tech head coach Bonnie Bynum Graham. "But it's not really about the competition we're playing, it's about getting to face someone else, getting our feet in the dirt, seeing different pitching and just see where our pieces fall based on what we're thinking and how things pan out through the fall."

With a relatively young team – with eight newcomers on the 2018 squad – the fall camp sessions almost become even more important.

"Absolutely," Graham said. "We've got eight new kids out of 18 roster players, so it's definitely going to be a lot of who fits where, what the best lineup is and things like that. It's always good to play other competition to see where our kids are going to be most valuable to us."

All three of the opponents could provide that. Chattanooga State finished 35-14 last season, Georgia Highlands went 43-14, while Cleveland State went 15-34 in 2017.

"Chattanooga State is always one of the best teams in their region," Graham said. "Georgia Highlands is always great competition. They generally send kids to Division I every year. It's still going to be a good challenge for us this fall and I'm looking forward to seeing what our girls can do."

All games are open to the public.

Photo by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information