HOUSTON – Highlighted by 31 home games, 36 in the city of Houston, four first-time opponents and a three-game series at Cougar Field against Alabama, Houston Baseball and head coach Todd Whitting have unveiled an exciting 2015 schedule, announced Thursday afternoon.
For the ninth consecutive season, Houston will open its slate at Cougar Field, having accumulated a winning record of 14-6, which includes three straight weekend sweeps the past three seasons under Whitting – who will begin his fifth season at the helm.
“I’m really excited about this year’s schedule,” Whitting said. “It is probably one of the most competitive ones we have made since our staff took over in 2010.”
Houston will open the season hosting Minnesota on Feb. 13-15. The Cougars and Gophers will meet for the first time since 1987 as they have met 25 previous times.
Houston will play the first five weekends in the city, including a marquee home series against SEC opponent and NCAA-tournament participant Alabama on Feb. 20-22. The last time these two teams met was in 2003.
The home slate for the Cougars will continue with their third straight weekend series at Cougar Field when it welcomes first-time opponent Columbia for a four-game series, set for Feb. 27-March 1.
“Our fans will have a great opportunity to see us play against great opponents here in our city,” Whitting said.
The Cougars will then make its 15th straight appearance in the Houston College Classic, dating back to 2001 when it faces Texas A&M (March 6), LSU (March 7) and Hawai’i (March 8) at Minute Maid Park.
“We are definitely excited about continuing to play in the Houston College Classic,” Whitting said. “Playing in it does a tremendous job of preparing us for a Regional-type environment against Regional-quality teams. We are very honored to be back in that tournament and what I feel like is the most competitive college baseball tournament in the country this year.”
Houston and Buffalo will meet for a three-game set on March 13-15 at Cougar Field before the Cougars make their first weekend road trip outside the city of Houston to meet New Mexico in Albuquerque on March 20-22.
American Athletic Conference play will begin for the Cougars with back-to-back road trips to UCF (March 27-29) and Memphis (April 2-4) to open that portion of the schedule, before returning home to host Tulane (April 10-12) and Cincinnati (April 17-19) the following two weekends.
A trip to USF (April 24-26) and then at Tulane (May 1-3) will follow and wrap up the road schedule for the Cougars, before returning to Cougar Field for the final two weekends of league play to host East Carolina (May 8-10) and UConn (May 14-16).
“The American Athletic Conference is very familiar to us as most of the teams are former Conference USA teams,” Whitting said. “You add Tulane and East Carolina to the mix after losing Louisville and Rutgers and I feel like this will now make our conference one of the top conferences in college baseball. Bringing these two teams back in will only boost our league to a new level.”
Houston and Rice will meet at three different venues for the second straight season, beginning with a March 17 contest at Cougar Field, followed by an April 14 contest at Reckling Park and a final game on May 12 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas – home of the Sugar Land Skeeters.
The Cougars swept Rice in the three-game season series a year ago, gaining back the Silver Glove Series trophy for the first time since 2000.
“We will continue the series with Rice and I don’t see that series ending anytime soon,” Whitting said. “It is a great series with two really great teams. I am really excited to go back to Sugar Land and play at Constellation Field as that was a great way to wrap up that series last season. We had a tremendous University of Houston crowd and we look forward to another great series against Rice this season.”
In midweek play this season, Houston will host Texas Southern (Feb. 17), Houston Baptist (March 1), Rice (March 17), Lamar (March 24), Sam Houston State (April 28) and McNeese State (May 5) and travel to Texas State (Feb. 24), Sam Houston State (March 10), Baylor (March 31), Louisiana-Lafayette (April 7), Rice (April 14), and McNeese State (April 21).
Coming off a 2014 Championship title, the Cougars will participate in the American Athletic Conference Championship set for May 18-24 in Clearwater, Fla. at Bright House Field.
2015 Houston Baseball Schedule
