TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State University and the Seminole baseball team announced their schedule for the 2015 season. The Seminoles will open the year with a three-game home stand against Oakland University (Michigan) inside the friendly confines of Dick Howser Stadium on Mike Martin Field, February 13-15.
Eleven teams on this year’s schedule recorded 30 or more wins a season ago. Ten schools finished no lower than third in their respective league standings and five schools earned a bid to participate in the 2014 NCAA Regional, while four teams finished the season ranked in the top 25.
Florida State will face seven schools from the state of Florida in 2015 for a total of 16 games against in-state rivals. Nine of those games will be played in Tallahassee including match-ups against Jacksonville (Feb. 24), USF (Mar. 3-4), UCF (Mar. 10-11), Florida Gulf Coast (Apr. 7-8), Florida (Apr. 14) and Stetson (Apr. 21).
FSU and Florida will once again square-off three times as each team will host a game sandwiched with a meeting in Jacksonville at the Baseball Grounds on March 31.
This year’s schedule also features non-conference weekends in Tallahassee against UNC Wilmington (Feb. 27 – Mar. 1) and Coastal Carolina (May 1-3). The rest of Florida State’s non-conference schedule will feature an early road trip to Athens, Ga., to face the University of Georgia in week two (Feb. 20-22) and a one-game, mid-week showdown against Alabama State on Mar. 25.
“The out of conference schedule certainly rivals anything that we have played in the last 10 years when you have teams like USF, UCF, Coastal Carolina and Georgia,” Florida State head coach Mike Martin said. “It’s another challenging schedule but this is what we have done for many, many years and we don’t intend to change.”
The Seminoles, who have won eight straight ACC Atlantic Division titles, will once again compete in a 30-game conference schedule. Florida State opens its ACC schedule with a three-game series against Boston College on Mar. 6. The other four conference home series features Wake Forest (Mar. 13-15), Virginia Tech (Mar. 27-29), Pittsburgh (Apr. 17-19) and Clemson (May 14-16) in the final week of the regular season.
The Seminoles’ conference road slate includes weekend series at two College World Series participants from last year in Virginia (Mar. 20-22) and ACC newcomer Louisville (May 8-10). The other three league road trips feature stops at NC State (Apr. 3-5), Notre Dame (Apr. 10-12) and Miami (Apr. 24-26). FSU will be visiting Louisville, Ky., and South Bend, Ind., for the first time in school history.
“With a young club, there is no question that this is the toughest road schedule that I can remember,” said Martin. “All five of those places will be tough places to play. It is a road schedule that I feel is as tough as any other teams in the country.”
The ACC Baseball Tournament returns to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C., May 19-24. The Seminoles have played in the ACC Championship finals in Durham in four of six previous trips including their last championship finals appearance in 2011.
