FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
RICHMOND, Va.- Twenty-five home games and eight games against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago highlight a challenging 2014 VCU Baseball schedule, announced today by Head Coach Shawn Stiffler.
“We’re excited about this year’s schedule with lots of opportunities to battle with some of the best programs on the East Coast,” Stiffler said. “We’ve got a tough non-conference slate that will set us up for a highly competitive A-10 slate. Our student-athletes and coaching staff are excited about the challenge.”
The challenges start in the opening weekend (Feb. 14-16) when VCU travels to Georgia Tech to play in a tournament, which features Radford, Old Dominion and perennial ACC power Georgia Tech.
VCU opens up its home slate on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when ODU visits the Diamond for a 3 p.m. showdown.
Following a road trip to Furman, the Rams return to Richmond for a five-game homestand. Games against East Carolina and Maryland sandwich a three-game series against Temple.
Non-conference play continues with a trip to North Carolina for a three game series with UNC Wilmington and a single game against Charlotte before heading to Blacksburg for a game against Virginia Tech.
The Rams wraps up their non-conference weekends with the PK5 Classic at The Diamond from March 14-16. Lafayette, Buffalo and Rutgers all visit Richmond for a round-robin event with VCU taking on each team once during the weekend.
VCU has a mid-week showdown with East Carolina on March 19, before opening up Atlantic 10 conference play at home against St. Bonaventure on March 21.
The second annual Keydog Classic will be held on March 26 when the Rams and ODU meet up at historic War Memorial Stadium in Hampton, Va.
A four-game road swing precedes the next set of home games for VCU, against VMI, St. Joseph’s and Virginia Tech. VCU plays cross-town rival Richmond April 11-13, before returning home for five more home games.
Series against Rhode Island, George Washington, Massachusetts and Fordham close out Atlantic 10 regular season play, with the A-10 tournament taking place May 21-25 in St. Louis
In Stiffler’s second season at the helm, the Rams will be searching for the program’s 11th NCAA tournament appearance.
