ANNVILLE, Pa.– The Middle Atlantic Conference Office announced spring schedules for 2021. To maximize playing opportunities and minimize risk, the MAC office created a softball schedule with MAC Commonwealth teams competing in six four-game series between March 13th and April 18th. Eastern University Softball will open its MAC Commonwealth schedule at Lebanon Valley on March 13th.

All MAC programs are subject to strict safety and testing precautions, and the league has committed to keeping competition within the 18 member institutions that sponsor softball. There is the possibility of non-league competition against MAC opponents on the weekend of April 24th if the Eagles are in one of the top seven spots in the league. With nine teams in the MAC Commonwealth, one team each weekend will play a non-league series against a MAC Freedom opponent. All six of Eastern's scheduled opponents are in the MAC Commonwealth. 

The four-game sets will be in the form of two doubleheaders which will have the teams playing home and home on back-to-back days. While the season is slated to consist of almost entirely weekend dates, there is the potential for doubleheaders to be moved for weather and for things to change as the season progresses.

The championship format for 2021 only will be an all-comers tournament beginning on Tuesday, April 27 with a single nine-inning play-in game in the MAC Commonwealth between the No. 8 seed and No. 9 seed. The quarterfinal (May 1-2), semifinal (May 8-9) and final (May 15-16) rounds will see a three-game series over two days with the higher seeds hosting two nine-inning games on the first day and the lower seeds hosting the if-necessary game the next day.

The championship format for 2021 only will be an all-comers tournament beginning April 24-25 with the No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed three-game series. All other teams will have the opportunity to play in a crossover that weekend. The No. 8/9 play-in (April 24-25), quarterfinal (May 1-2), semifinal (May 8-9) and final (May 15-16) rounds will see a three-game series over two days with the higher seeds hosting a doubleheader on the first day and the lower seeds hosting the if-necessary game the next day.

While this is the first trip through the MAC Commonwealth, Eastern Softball has some familiarity with league teams. The Eagles played four league teams- Alvernia, Lebanon Valley, Widener, and York- in 2019, the last full season of Division III softball. Eastern has not, however, much experience against the other four teams in the league. The Eagles last played Stevenson in 2016 and Messiah in 2012. Eastern has never played Hood or Albright. 

With eight new players and three sophomores, the squad on the diamond for Head Coach Terri Adams will likely have several players seeing every opponent for the first time. 

MAC and campus regulations do not allow spectators at athletic events, but all home softball games will be livestreamed.