SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara softball released its 2016 schedule today. The Broncos open the season February 13 at the Aggie Invitational in Davis, Calif. The home opener is February 19 vs. Cal State Fullerton as part of the Santa Clara Bronco Classic.

"We had a promising fall season and were able to move our lineups around and see players in different positions which showed our versatility," said Santa Clara head coach Lisa Mize. "Our pitching staff did a nice job developing this fall and keeping us in the games. Defensively I definitely think we are ahead of where we were last season and had a strong showing this fall. I am excited about our 2016 schedule as I think it has great balance and an opportunity to be challenging, which will prepare us for West Coast Conference play."

The Broncos play three teams that made the NCAA tournament a year ago. Santa Clara hosts Dartmouth March 19 in the Santa Clara Round Robin and hosts Cal April 13. The Broncos play three games at BYU, the WCC champions, May 6-7.

Santa Clara will host three tournaments this year. The tournaments are the Santa Clara Broncos Classic from February 19-21, the SCU Invitational from February 26-28, and the Santa Clara Round Robin from March 18-20. The Broncos also host Stanford on March 30.

The team will also travel to play in the Aggie Invitational from February 13-14 in Davis, Calif., the Highlander Classic from March 5-6 in Riverside, Calif., the Rebel Classic from March 11-13 in Las Vegas, and the Gaucho Classic II from March 25-26 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

West Coast Conference softball begins April 9 when Santa Clara travels to Stockton to take on Pacific. The next week the Broncos are at LMU and alternate home and away for the remainder of the season.

The regular season wraps up with senior day May 14 vs. Saint Mary's.