WSU’s softball team — the reigning Big Sky champions — will be back on the diamond this spring.

The first pitch will be thrown out for the Wildcats on March 26, against Idaho State at the Wildcat Softball Field.

On Nov. 17, The Big Sky Conference announced on their website the 2021 schedule for all seven of their teams.

The Wildcats play Idaho State, Northern Colorado and Portland State in Ogden, while the team will travel to take on Sacramento State, Southern Utah and Montana.

Each school will take on six other schools and plays three games against each.

The conference’s seven teams will play the 18 conference games over a seven week period spanning March 26 to May 8.

The top four teams then move on to the double elimination Big Sky Tournament in Ogden, which takes place May 13 to 15.

The Big Sky Conference champion then moves on to the NCAA tournament to represent the conference.

The reigning defending champions didn’t have the opportunity to defend their title this past spring due to the pandemic.

But in 2019, the Wildcats finished with an overall record of 27–21, with a conference record of 14–2, winning the Big Sky Conference, for the fourth straight season.

Head Coach Mary Kay Amicone was then named the Big Sky Coach of the Year.

In the NCAA Regionals, the Wildcats fell to 2nd-ranked UCLA, but not before the team knocked out Cal State Fullerton in the Big Sky’s first softball NCAA Tournament win.

This past spring before the season’s cancellation, WSU played in the Grand Canyon, UNLV, Texas and Nevada softball tournaments, where the team took on Stanford, North Dakota State, Duke and a No. 4-ranked Texas Longhorns team.

WSU was picked the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky after the team received 35 first place votes in the conference’s Preseason Coaches Poll.