CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte 49ers softball team recently came in at No. 1 in terms of toughest non-conference schedules and are No. 25 in RPI.
It's all part of the team's goal to make the NCAA postseason field out of the C-USA, whether they win the league tournament or not.
But of course, they're good enough to do that anyway.
Charlotte scheduled games this season against South Carolina, Georgia, Stanford, Penn State, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Clemson, Washington, Duke and Louisville.
And they've won their share of those matchups.
The Niners have a great mix of returning players and transfers from Power 5 schools.
"I noticed that the talent at Charlotte is the same as where I've been if not better," infielder Kassidy Krupit, who transferred from the Gamecocks, said. "I think we have great talent and we've proved it with our strength of schedule. Charlotte is right up there with everybody else. We belong and we can compete at the highest level."
Charlotte's best wins include the season opener against South Carolina, and road or neutral site wins at No. 10 Georgia and No. 23 Arizona State.
"We've got nothing to lose. We go into their place and we get to make a statement," pitcher Sam Gress, an NC State transfer, said. "We get to show everybody who Charlotte softball is."
Charlotte will look for its 20th win of the season on Wednesday at home against UNC Greensboro.
"They work really hard," coach Ashley Chastain said. "They take what we do with a ton of pride. They wear the logo with a ton of pride. I think they're trying to make their mark."