West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University Softball has announced its schedule for the 2025 season. The Leathernecks will participate in four non-conference tournaments, traveling to Rosemont, Illinois; Honolulu, Hawaii; Murray, Kentucky; and St. Charles, Missouri. The team will begin its second season in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) with an away game against Southern Indiana on March 8.

"We're excited about the schedule we have lined up for 2025. There's a good mix of new locations to travel to, as well as midweek home games," said Leatherneck Head Coach Alisa Goler. "I know our group is looking forward to experiencing year two in the OVC and seeing the campuses/facilities of the teams in the conference that we did not travel to last year. We hope to see familiar faces out at Mary Ellen!"

The Leathernecks' season opener will be at the Rosemont Dome Tournament on February 8 and 9, hosted by DePaul. They will then travel to O'ahu for the Hawai'i Spring Fling Softball Tournament from February 13-15. Following this, they head to Murray State's Velvet Milkman Classic from February 21-23 and conclude their tournament play at the Lindenwood Invite in St. Charles from March 1-2.

In OVC play, Western Illinois will face all nine other schools in three-game series formats, with four series away and five at home. Their first home game is scheduled for March 12 against Saint Louis, marking one of four standalone home games alongside matches against Bradley on March 18, Drake on March 25, and Kansas City on April 16.

The longest homestand includes a conference series against Southeast Missouri State following their game with Saint Louis from March 15-16. After playing Bradley at home, they travel to Tennessee Tech from March 22-23 before returning for consecutive home weekends against UT Martin on March 29-30 and Tennessee State on April 5-6.

Later in April, WIU returns to St. Charles for a three-game set against Lindenwood on April 12-13 before hosting SIUE back at McKee Stadium on April 18-19. The final series of their regular season includes trips to Morehead State on April 26-27 and a concluding home series versus Eastern Illinois on May 3-4.

The top eight teams in the OVC will qualify for the conference tournament held at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria from May 7-10.