ABILENE - New ACU softball coach Jo Koons has laid out a challenging schedule for the Wildcats in 2025, including trips to power programs Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Oregon.
"They're excited, especially our upperclassmen," said Koons. "They've never experienced something like that. They get the opportunity to end their careers this way. They want to play against them. There's a lot of parody in our sport."
CLICK HERE:Â View the 2025 ACU softball schedule
The Wildcats start the season at the Aggie Classic in College Station Feb. 6-8. The following weekend ACU travels to East Texas A&M's Lion Invitational Feb. 14-16. Tournaments in Norman, Okla., and Austin round out the opening month of the season. Oklahoma defeated Texas in the 2024 Women's College World Series Championship for the Sooners' fourth consecutive national title.
"The direction I want to take the program, this is an opportunity to play the best schools in the country," said Koons, who spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at UT Arlington. "We live in a unique spot where we have some of the best teams 3-4 hours from us. We have to get used to playing those types of teams and scenarios."
ACU opens WAC play at Seattle U, and will extend their trip over spring break in Eugene, Ore., with one game against Oregon State and two versus Oregon. In all, the Wildcats will play 26 games on the road before finally taking the turf at Poly Wells Field on March 14 against Southern Utah.
"We've been talking about how we're going to approach this. You've got to show up and prepare even when it's hard. It's a long stretch, but it also goes by so fast that when you're in it you really don't think about it much."
California Baptist will host the 2025 WAC Tournament in Riverside, Cali. The top eight of the league's nine teams will advance to the conference tournament.
ACU hosted eight games in the fall, and Koons believes the competition allowed for her new coaching staff and players to learn about themselves and each other.
"We got to see a lot of our players in different roles and spots on the field, places in the line-up. We're half new from last year. Getting them to come together was really big for us. It was a good start and gave them a lot of confidence going into this season.
"We're going to run a successful offense. Our kids have bought in that we're going to run a fast offense and execute at a high-level. Defensively we have some good options. We have a staff for our pitchers and we'
re going to put them in the best position."
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Feb 6 (Thu) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Neutral Baylor College Station, TX (Davis Diamond)
Feb 7 (Fri) 9:00 a.m. (CT) Neutral Utah State College Station, TX (Davis Diamond)
Feb 7 (Fri) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Neutral Villanova College Station, TX (Davis Diamond)
Feb 8 (Sat) 9:00 a.m. (CT) Neutral Purdue College Station, TX (Davis Diamond)
Feb 8 (Sat) 4:30 p.m. (CT) Away Texas A&M College Station, TX (Davis Diamond)
Feb 14 (Fri) 11:15 a.m. (CT) Neutral SIUE Commerce, TX
Feb 14 (Fri) 3:45 p.m. (CT) Neutral Iowa Commerce, TX
Feb 15 (Sat) 9:00 a.m. (CT) Neutral Rutgers Commerce, TX
Feb 15 (Sat) 11:15 a.m. (CT) Neutral Iowa Commerce, TX
Feb 16 (Sun) 1:30 p.m. (CT) Away East Texas A&M Commerce, TX
Feb 20 (Thu) 12:30 p.m. (CT) Neutral Wichita State Norman, OK (Love's Field)
Feb 20 (Thu) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Away Oklahoma Norman, OK (Love's Field)
Feb 21 (Fri) 11:00 a.m. (CT) Neutral Bowling Green Norman, OK (Love's Field)
Feb 21 (Fri) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Neutral Tulsa Norman, OK (Love's Field)
Feb 22 (Sat) 12:30 p.m. (CT) Neutral Wichita State Norman, OK (Love's Field)
Feb 28 (Fri) 1:30 p.m. (CT) Neutral New Mexico State Austin, TX (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Feb 28 (Fri) 6:30 p.m. (CT) Away Texas Austin, TX (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Mar 1 (Sat) 11:00 a.m. (CT) Neutral New Mexico State Austin, TX (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Mar 1 (Sat) 4:00 p.m. (CT) Neutral South Florida Austin, TX (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Mar 2 (Sun) 5:30 p.m. (CT) Neutral UIW Austin, TX (Red & Charline McCombs Field)
Mar 7 (Fri) 5:00 p.m. (CT) Away Seattle U Seattle, WA
Mar 7 (Fri) 7:00 p.m. (CT) Away Seattle U Seattle, WA
Mar 8 (Sat) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Away Seattle U Seattle, WA
Mar 9 (Sun) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Neutral Oregon State Eugene, OR
Mar 9 (Sun) 7:00 p.m. (CT) Away Oregon Eugene, OR
Mar 10 (Mon) 12:30 p.m. (CT) Away Oregon Eugene, OR
Mar 14 (Fri) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Home Southern Utah Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Mar 14 (Fri) 4:00 p.m. (CT) Home Southern Utah Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Mar 15 (Sat) 11:00 a.m. (CT) Home Southern Utah Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Mar 21 (Fri) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Away UT Arlington Arlington, TX
Mar 22 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. (CT) Away UT Arlington Arlington, TX
Mar 22 (Sat) 2:30 p.m. (CT) Away UT Arlington Arlington, TX
Mar 28 (Fri) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Home Utah Tech Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Mar 28 (Fri) 4:00 p.m. (CT) Home Utah Tech Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Mar 29 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. (CT) Home Utah Tech Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Apr 2 (Wed) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Home Texas Tech Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Apr 4 (Fri) 4:00 p.m. (CT) Away Utah Valley Orem, UT
Apr 4 (Fri) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Away Utah Valley Orem, UT
Apr 5 (Sat) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Away Utah Valley Orem, UT
Apr 11 (Fri) 6:30 p.m. (CT) Away Baylor Waco, TX
Apr 12 (Sat) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Away Baylor Waco, TX
Apr 18 (Fri) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Home Tarleton State Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Apr 19 (Sat) 1:00 p.m. (CT) Home Tarleton State Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Apr 19 (Sat) 3:00 p.m. (CT) Home Tarleton State Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
Apr 25 (Fri) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Away Cal Baptist Riverside, CA
Apr 25 (Fri) 8:00 p.m. (CT) Away Cal Baptist Riverside, CA
Apr 26 (Sat) 3:00 p.m. (CT) Away Cal Baptist Riverside, CA
Apr 30 (Wed) 6:00 p.m. (CT) Away Texas Tech Lubbock, TX
May 2 (Fri) 2:00 p.m. (CT) Home Grand Canyon Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
May 2 (Fri) 4:00 p.m. (CT) Home Grand Canyon Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
May 3 (Sat) 12:00 p.m. (CT) Home Grand Canyon Abilene (Poly Wells Field)
May 7-10 (Wed-Sat) WAC Touranment Riverside, CA
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