CONWAY, Ark. – After a dynamite season on the diamond in 2022, the Central Arkansas softball team announces its 2023 schedule. Filling the spring with a challenging nonconference schedule that should prepare the team for its second season in the ASUN, the Bears will play 54 regular season games under second-year head coach Jenny Parsons.
 
"This schedule will be a great test for our players," Parsons said of the 2023 slate. "We'll play a lot of really good teams and I'm excited to see where we stand as a team. I'm confident in our group."
 
Much like last season, the Bears will play in a plethora of tournaments to start the year, opening the season Feb. 10-12 at McNeese's tournament. Following that, the team will return to LSU to take part in the LSU Tiger Classic, playing Ohio, Utah and the hosting Tigers for five games in Baton Rouge.
 
Central Arkansas wraps up February with its first home tournament, the Michelle Short Memorial Classic over Feb. 24-26, followed by the Adam Brown Shamrock Classic for the first weekend of March.
 
One of the bigger midweeks of the season will take place immediately after the Adam Brown, as the Bears return for the away portion of a home-and-home with Arkansas on March 6. The Razorbacks will return the favor and come to Conway on April 11.
 
The last road tournament will be held at the field of the Kansas Jayhawks, where the team faces off against the Big 12 team and Stanford, playing each team twice. The pair of Power 5 schools marks two of six major opponents on the schedule; the Bears will play ten games.
 
Rounding out the nonconference part of the schedule is Oklahoma State, who will come play at Farris Field on March 15. The Bears played Oklahoma State last year in the University of Memphis' tournament, and now welcome the Cowgirls to Conway for a midweek.
 
Conference play opens with North Florida on March 18, one of four home series in the ASUN schedule for the Bears. In addition to the Ospreys, Central Arkansas will play Florida Gulf Coast, Liberty and Lipscomb at Farris Field. North Florida and FGCU were the only teams in the conference to hold a winning record over the Bears last year, but all of those games were away from home. Now playing in Conway, the Bears will have a chance to get revenge for those series. The final series of the regular season will be against Lipscomb on May 4-5.
 
On the road during the ASUN schedule, Central Arkansas will face North Alabama, Jacksonville, Bellarmine and Jacksonville State. The Bears won series against North Alabama, Bellarmine and Jacksonville State last season, whereas Jacksonville was one of just a few ASUN programs the Bears did not play. First-time ASUN opponents for Central Arkansas are the Dolphins and last season's champion, Liberty.
 
After finishing the regular season, the ASUN tournament will take place from May 9-13 in Deland, Fla. The top eight teams will make the tournament, as the conference moves away from the divisional seedings. After the additions of Austin Peay and Queens, there are 14 teams in the ASUN; nearly half of the conference will not make the postseason in 2023.
 
"The ASUN has a lot of talent, we saw that last year, we expect the same this year," Parsons added about the ASUN. "Year Two, now that we've seen the quality of this conference, we can't wait to see where we stack up again this year."