KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Head Coach Dave Serrano officially announced the 2015 Volunteer Baseball schedule, featuring 31 home games at Lindsey Nelson Stadium with first-ever match-ups against Rutgers, UC Irvine and Florida International.
In total, the Volunteers will play 27 of their 55 regular season games against nine 2014 NCAA postseason participants, including College World Series squads Vanderbilt, UC Irvine and Ole Miss.
After opening the 2014 regular season at home, the Vols will travel to Miami, Fla., this year to face Florida International for a three-game series (Feb. 13-15). The Vols will return home to host Tennessee Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and Rutgers for four games (Feb. 20-22) during Tennessee’s home opener weekend at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, including a doubleheader against the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, Feb. 21.
“I believe, as always, this will end up being a very challenging but exciting schedule,” Serrano said. “As usual, the 30 games in SEC play will be a true test. Our staff and players realize that we have a lot of work to do still to be at the level that we and our fans expect. But I believe our pre-season games will prepare us well.”
Following a six-game homestand, the Vols will head to the west coast and play first-time opponent UC Irvine in a three-game set beginning Friday, Feb. 27 – Sunday, March 1. The trip will mark a return for Serrano, who served as the Anteaters’ head coach from 2005-07, as well as Vols Associate Head Coach Greg Bergeron and Director of Operations Tony Asaro, both of whom spent time under Serrano during the Anteaters College World Series run in 2007.
“Opening up in Miami against a very good FIU team, our team will be challenged by a very good pitching staff,” Serrano said. “Then we go across the country to play a College World Series team from last season in UC Irvine. As always under this coaching staff, we want our players to be challenged in our pre-season to develop our team for SEC play.”
Tennessee returns to Rocky Top following their California travels to begin a six-game homestand, facing Middle Tennessee State (Tuesday, March 3), Morehead State (Wednesday, March 4) and first-time opponent Grand Canyon (Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 8). The stretch caps off with a Tuesday match-up against East Tennessee State (March 10).
The Volunteer baseball program will open SEC play this year in Gainesville, Fla., taking on the Gators in three games from Friday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15. Over the course of the 2015 season, Tennessee will travel to face SEC opponents Vanderbilt (March 27-29), Ole Miss (April 3-5), Kentucky (April 16-18) as well as Arkansas (May 9-10).
The Orange & White will host long-time SEC foe Georgia (March 20-22) for the program’s first home conference opponent series in March. Missouri (April 9-11), South Carolina (April 24-26), Texas A&M (May 1-3) and Mississippi State (May 15-17) will also make trips to Rocky Top this year, facing the Vols at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
Rounding out the club’s non-conference schedule, UT will host midweek games against Lipscomb (Feb. 24), Austin Peay State (March 17), Cincinnati (March 25), Western Carolina (April 7), Middle Tennessee State (April 14), East Tennessee State (April 21), Belmont (May 6) and UNC Asheville (May 12).
The 2014 SEC Tournament, which features the league’s top 12 finishers in the regular season, is set for May 19-24 at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. NCAA Regional action will take place, May 29 – June 1, followed by NCAA Super Regional play, June 5-8.
The NCAA College World Series returns to TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha, Neb., on June 13-24. Tennessee has made four previous appearances at the College World Series (1951, 1995, 2001 and 2005).
Home game dates and times at Robert M. Lindsay Field at Lindsey Nelson Stadium are tentatively set, but subject to change. Season ticket information and the full slate of game times will be released at a later date.
2015 Tennessee Baseball Schedule
