COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Fresh off its first-ever trip to the Super Regionals and its winningest season in program history, Maryland baseball head coach John Szefc announced the 2015 schedule Thursday. The slate includes 11 games against teams that participated in the 2014 NCAA Tournament and home dates against four-time national champion Cal State Fullerton and two-time defending Big Ten champion Indiana.
Of its 56-game schedule, Maryland will play 15 games against teams with a RPI inside the top 50 from last season. The Terps will play 27 games within the friendly confines of Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, where they complied a 21-7 record during the 2014 season.
“We are excited about this schedule and our first season in the Big Ten,” said Szefc. “The goal of any schedule is to prepare us for the postseason and the high pressure situations you will encounter. We play several teams that were in the NCAA Tournament field a year ago and that experience should pay off throughout the season and hopefully carry into postseason play.”
Maryland opens its 2015 season with seven games on the road. The Terps face Western Kentucky (Feb. 13), Old Dominion (Feb. 14), Coastal Carolina (Feb. 14) and Richmond (Feb. 15) as part of the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Myrtle Beach to start the season. Maryland then heads to South Alabama the following weekend for games against the host Jaguars (Feb. 20), UCF (Feb. 21) and Arkansas (Feb. 22).
The Terps open their home schedule the week of Feb. 23. Maryland plays host to VCU (Feb. 24) before its first home weekend series against Appalachian State (Feb. 27 – March 1).
After a mid-week trip to Delaware (March 3), Maryland plays three games at UNC Wilmington (March 6-8) before returning home for a date against Richmond (March 11) and a three-game set against Princeton (March 13-15).
Maryland will play a two-game set on the road at Elon beginning March 17 before playing host to its first-ever Big Ten contest as Minnesota makes the trip to College Park for a weekend series beginning March 20.
After four straight games on the road against James Madison (March 24) and Michigan (March 27-29), the Terps play 11 of their next 12 games at home including eight consecutive beginning with JMU on April 1. Big Ten runner-up Nebraska makes its first trip College Park the weekend of April 3.
Following a match up with West Virginia (April 7), Maryland welcomes Iowa (April 10-12) to Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium before a mid-week road trip to Lynchburg to face Liberty (April 14) and the first-ever meeting between Maryland and Cal State Fullerton to take place April 17-19 in College Park.
The Terrapins then hit the road for four straight with a mid-week trip to Richmond to face VCU (April 21) and a weekend series at Purdue (April 24-26).
Maryland wraps up its home-and-home with Delaware on April 28 before closing out its Big Ten home slate with three games against Indiana (May 1-3).
Maryland plays seven of its last eight regular season games away from home beginning with the Ripken Cup in Aberdeen against Towson (May 6) followed by a road trip to Columbus to face Ohio State (May 8-10). Maryland closes its home schedule against Liberty (May 12) before wrapping up the regular season in Evanston against Northwestern (May 15-17).
The Big Ten Tournament will return to Target Field in Minneapolis, Minn., after a one-year hiatus in Omaha. The tournament will be held from May 20-24.
