The Lady Blues softball team plays 46 of their scheduled 54 games on the road this year.

So in a season where they will spend most of their time on the road, it pays to look at what they’ve done in the past on the road.

Looking at records since 1999, they have never had a losing season. They have won 78 percent of their games at home with only a 39 percent win percentage on an opponent’s field. In neutral games, they have a 60 percent win percentage.

Not surprisingly, the Lady Blues play better at home.

However, in that span, they have had five seasons with a record above .600, and three seasons below .600. For the three seasons below .600, they had a losing record visiting teams. At home they were above .500 every year.

So the case could be made that to have a good season rather than just a solid one, the Lady Blues have to win on the road because they have always consistently won at home.

At neutral sites, they have been above .500 every season except for last year’s 11-13 record. In the three seasons they were below .600 overall, they won 60 percent of neutral games, which is how much they have won on neutral sites overall since 1999.

Neutral site games combined with visiting games, the Lady Blues have won 58 percent. Considering 46 of their 54 games fall under this category, the Lady Blues will have to step up on the road and play like a veteran team to end the season with a record over .600.

With only two players gone from last year’s team, the potential is there to accomplish that.

2007 Spring Softball Schedule:

Feb. 23-24 West Texas A&M TournamentMarch 2-4 Central Oklahoma ClassicMarch 6 Pittsburg StateMarch 7 OttawaMarch 9-11 St. Edward’s University InviteMarch 17-18 Emporia State TournamentMarch 23-25 Missouri Western State InviteMarch 27 Missouri SouthernMarch 28 Southwest BaptistMarch 31- Apr. 1 Nebraska-Omaha TournamentApr. 6 TrumanApr. 7 Central MissouriApr. 11 Emporia State Apr. 14-15 Northwest Missouri TournamentApr. 17 Pittsburg StateApr. 19 Northwest MissouriApr. 21 Fort Hays StateApr. 24 Missouri WesternApr. 26 ParkApr. 27-28 Central Missouri TournamentMay 4-5 MIAA Postseason Tournament

Games in Topeka are in bold.