ORONO – Nine home dates and a trip to Hawaii will be among the highlights for the University of Maine softball team, which released its 2008 schedule this week.

The Black Bears will also play teams from major conferences including the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Conference USA, Atlantic 10 and Mid-American.

Maine will open its season Feb. 15-17 at the East Carolina Classic in Greenville, N.C., where the Bears will face Ohio University, East Carolina and Boston College.

Maine’s next road trip takes the Bears to Florida for the Stetson Tournament in Deland to play Albany, Stetson and Western Michigan. In Clearwater, Fla., Maine will face North Carolina State, South Florida, Jacksonville, Penn State and Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) in the USF UnderArmour Invitational March 6-9.

The Black Bears head to the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament March 12-15 where they will take on Texas Tech, Hawaii, North Carolina and Texas.

Maine opens America East play March 29-30 with a three-game series at Stony Brook. The Bears’ home-opening weekend will be April 5-6 with conference games against Binghamton at Mike Kessock Field.

The rest of the home dates are April 15 (Colby), April 19-20 (Vermont), April 23 (Boston University) and May 3-4 (UMBC). There will also be a home exhibition game Feb. 23 against Southern New Hampshire.