LOUDONVILLE, NY -  Looking to build on a resilient mark from last season which featured a third-place finish in MAAC regular season play, Siena Softball Head Coach Bill Lajeunesse announced the team's 2019 schedule Wednesday afternoon. The slate features four non-conference tournament appearances, eight new opponents and 20 home contests to be held at Siena Field.

"We feel that our 2019 schedule is one of the best that we have played in the last few seasons," Lajeunesse said. "The schedule sets up to be very competitive, which will help us prepare for the upcoming MAAC season. We will have the opportunity to play against a number of teams from different conferences that we have not faced in the past and see different styles of softball. We feel this will get us ready for conference play and help us reach our goal of winning a MAAC Championship."

Entering its 44th season of play, Siena will be led into battle by Lajeuenesse for the ninth year, looking to further him as the winningest head coach in program history. The Saints will see 16 returning opponents from 2018, including six in non-conference play, after putting up a 14-17 record against those teams last year. This year's schedule also features three teams who qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament.

For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the team will begin its campaign at the Madeira Beach Invitational on Florida's west coast, taking part in two separate weekends of five-game action in the Sunshine State. The Saints will take on first-time foe Drexel and 2018 NCAA Tournament Participant Middle Tennessee in opening-weekend action from Feb. 22-24, while seeing two more new faces, Presbyterian & Georgia Southern, the following weekend (March 1-3).

The Saints will then head to the Buccaneer Classic in Johnson City, TN for the first time since 2014, taking on first-time opponents Rutgers and Evansville, as well as host East Tennessee State from March 9-10.

Non-conference tournament action concludes March 23-24, when Siena heads back up north to participate in the CCSU Tournament, facing Central Connecticut State and Maine in New Britain, CT on the first day and playing 2018 NCAA Qualifier Boston University and Hartford in West Hartford, CT on day two.

The Saints kick off an eight-game homestand to open up play in Loudonville on March 27 with Army West-Point, commencing MAAC play with doubleheaders against Iona and Fairfield that weekend (March 30 & 31), before welcoming Sacred Heart the following week (April 2).

The Green and Gold then hit the road for a conference doubleheader at Niagara on April 6 before returning the following day to host Holy Cross. A six-game road trip then takes place, with stops at Syracuse (April 10), Marist (April 13) and Quinnipiac (April 14) all in store.

A pair of home series will follow, as the team takes Siena Field to host Hartford on April 16 & Canisius on April 20. Siena then travels west to face Colgate on April 24, marking the first time since 2014 that the two teams will have played.

The final homestand of the year features conference foe Rider (April 27) and defending MAAC Champion Monmouth (April 28), before concluding with first-time opponent Bryant on May 1.
Siena concludes its 2019 regular season schedule with a pair of conference road doubleheaders, first at Manhattan on May 4, and then at Saint Peter's the following day.

The team will then look to qualify for the MAAC Championship for the third straight year, as one of the league's top six regular season finishers. The 2019 MAAC Tournament will take place from May 8-11 on the field of the regular season champion.