Pitt softball to face Michigan State, Maryland in ACC-Big Ten Challenge

The Pitt softball team will look to rebound after a dismal 13-41 campaign this year. As part of the 2020 schedule, the Panthers will face Maryland and Michigan State as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Most fans only know of the Challenge event played annually in basketball. However, it extends to softball, too, and began to be played in that sport in 2016. Next year’s games will be played from February 13-16.

If any of the teams involved in Pitt’s matchups are similar to last season, that could make for some competitive games. While the Panthers struggled this year, its two opponents did, too. Michigan State was only 16-34 while Maryland was only slightly better at 20-31. Those teams won a few more games than Pitt did but the Panthers had the most success in conference winning seven games (both Michigan State and Maryland won only four).

The Challenge is a bit awkward in terms of locations. Games are played at one of six host sites. Pitt’s games, for example, will be played at Clemson. Clemson will also face those same opponents but will have the benefit of playing in front of a home crowd at their site. This is also going to be Clemson’s first year as a softball program so it’s going to be interesting to see how they can fare as a first-year program in a major conference.

You can see all of the matchups here. Exact dates, times, and TV/media are yet to be announced.

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