Hempstead, N.Y. –  A home doubleheader against LSU and matchups against six teams that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament highlight the 2014 Hofstra Softball schedule that Head Coach Bill Edwards released today.

The Pride will face five 40-win teams and two conference champions in the slate. In all, the 2014 opponents combined for an 891-835-3 record last season. Hofstra is coming off a campaign in which Edwards' team won its second straight Colonial Athletic Association championship.

Hofstra will welcome a LSU squad that went 42-16 and was ranked 18th nationally in the NFCA final poll to Hofstra Softball Stadium on April 16 for a twin-bill at 4 p.m.

The new campaign starts on Feb. 14 with a five-game tournament hosted by Florida State. The Pride will oppose North Dakota State, FSU and Southern Mississippi. On the first day, Hofstra will face a NDSU squad that went 17-1 in a first-place Summit League finish and later in the day will oppose a FSU squad that went 44-19 overall and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals while ending the season ranked 15th.

The second trip to Florida will come the next week when Hofstra plays another five-game tournament in the Tampa-based Leadoff Classic. A rematch of the 2012 NCAA Super Regionals between Hofstra and USF will take place on Feb. 21. The Bulls were 45-16 and are coming off a Big East title. The road doesn't get easier the next day when the Pride faces Louisiana-Lafayette, which went 47-15 and nearly made it to the Women's College World Series before falling in the supers.

Hofstra will make its last trip to the Sunshine State with a five-game tournament at Florida Gulf Coast starting on Feb. 28 with games against Eastern Michigan, FGCU, Bethune-Cookman and Michigan State.

A five-team; three-day tournament will mark the Pride's home opener with the Hofstra Invitational spanning March 14-17. It will include games versus Georgetown, Columbia, Fairfield and Hartford.

League play will start with a rematch of last season's CAA title game when Hofstra faces James Madison in a three-game series in Harrisonburg, Va. from March 22-23. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament last season with the Dukes earning an at-large bid.

Following a road doubleheader at Rutgers on March 26, Hofstra will head to Towson for a three-game conference series March 29-30 in Maryland. The Tigers qualified for the CAA Tournament in 2013. The Pride will also play Delaware in a three-game conference road series from April 19-20.

Hofstra will host conference opponents UNC Wilmington and the College of Charleston while ending the regular season versus Drexel from March 2-3. Home non-league doubleheaders versus Delaware State on April 2, Lehigh on April 23 and CCSU on April 29 along with quick road trips to Iona and LIU will look to keep the Pride sharp between CAA series.

The CAA Tournament is scheduled from March 7-9 with the highest seed hosting. The Pride is coming off a 46-13 season and a trip to the NCAA Regional finals against then-No. 8 Missouri.