The warmer weather and early stages of spring means more than replacing snow shovels with lawnmowers. It means the Oakland University baseball and softball teams can finally come home.

As usually the case with college teams from the north, the Golden Grizzlies started their respective seasons with lengthy road trips. The OU baseball team played its first 17 games on the road, including series with southern powers Ole Miss and Memphis, and is now gearing up for its first home game of the season on Friday, April 2 against Concordia.

“We spend all winter cooped up practicing in the bubble so we were pretty ready to get outside once the season started,” junior infielder Tommy Jablonski said. “But it’s pretty tough to start with that many road games because we’re playing against teams who have been able to practice outside a month or so longer than we have.”

The softball squad has already logged 30 games this spring, all on the road, and is wrapping up a two-game series with Central Michigan before playing its first home game against IUPUI, also on April 2. The Golden Grizzlies (10-20, 3-3 Summit League) are also adjusting to a new coach. Former softball coach Glenn MacDonald recently announced his retirement after four-plus seasons with Oakland.

MacDonald was replaced by assistant coach Jane Zimmerman, who will serve as head coach on an interim basis.

“Sometimes life takes you places that are unexpected, but I think our team is meshing very well this year and will be able to overcome any obstacles, we’ll be able to pull through for sure,” sophomore outfielder Kelsey Krych said.

On the baseball front, the Golden Grizzlies (3-13) are looking to rebound from a tough non-conference stretch and start strong in the Summit League. This, however, will not be an easy task. Oakland starts its Summit League season with a four-game road trip to Oral Roberts, a perennial conference power.

“Oral Roberts is the team to beat in the league and I think we’ll be prepared and go down there and be ready to play good baseball,” said OU coach John Musachio. “These guys want to play against the best and that’s why we scheduled the non-conference schedule that we did. I think we’re battle tested and I think that will be a fun series for us.”

After their trip to Tulsa, Okla., Oakland will host an 11-game homestand with games against South Dakota State, Centenary, and non-league opponents Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan and Toledo.

“It’s definitely going to be nice once we get to that stretch of home games,” junior infielder D.J. Jarrad said. “We’re always on the road to start the season so to get home and have that rest factor and be able to get in some extra practice is definitely going to help us out a lot. Hopefully we can get on a little bit of a win streak.”

The softball team also has a string of home games coming up. After it wraps up its two-game series with CMU Wednesday, Oakland will play eight of its next 10 games at home. The two road games during that stretch will be a double-header at in-state opponent Western Michigan on April 7.

“It will be nice to be home and have our home crowd here and hopefully be able to get a little bit more sleep,” Zimmerman said. “That stretch is very important for us. I think if we stay on our route of what we have been doing and keep focusing on what we need to do, I think we can do very well.”

Oakland fields a team of nine seniors and six juniors along with a talented group of younger players. Senior outfielder Audrey Sabourin expects the Grizzlies to compete with the other top teams in the league and be a factor in the conference tournament at season’s end.

“I expect to do well. I think we’re going to be winning and in the tournament this year,” Sabourin said. “We have it. We have it all there and we’re going to do it.”