MONROE, La. — ULM head baseball coach Bruce Peddie announced today the squad’s schedule for the upcoming 2015 season. The schedule features 34 home contests and the Warhawks will battle 13 teams that won 30 or more games in 2014 as well as five different clubs that appeared in the NCAA tournament a season ago.
The Warhawks will kick-off the 2015 season with a round-robin tournament that features Central Arkansas, Grambling State and Indiana State. ULM will continue the homestand the following weekend as it hosts Stephen F. Austin, followed by its first midweek game of the season against Southern Miss.
“Obviously I think we are all a little bit better when we get the chance to play at home in front of your crowd,” said Peddie. “It just happened to work out this way for us as we had some games we were getting back and some weekends that we had traded with other teams from the previous years. So to have the four non-conference weekends all being played here helps our program immensely. It gives our players a chance to feel comfortable, they can rest in their own beds, know the facility and have that fan support so I think that will be a great thing for us.”
The Warhawks will continue their stay in Northeast Louisiana as, after a midweek tilt at Louisiana Tech, the squad will battle Sam Houston State at Warhawk Field. The February 25th meeting at Louisiana Tech will mark the first meeting between the two programs since the 2008 season.
ULM will be on the road for its next five games as the Warhawks wrap a pair of midweek games at Northwestern State and at Nicholls State around its Sun Belt opener at Texas State. The final non-conference weekend series of the season will feature ULM and Mississippi Valley State.
“Everything we try to do is to try to prepare us for the Sun Belt Conference season,” Peddie added. “To face some of those teams throughout the early part of the year is going to be a benefit for us as we move forward and get into conference play. The second full weekend in March was a bye week for us as we open Sun Belt play the previous week at Texas State. It can be tough at times to find weekend opponents at that point in the season, but we were fortunate to be able to get Mississippi Valley State for a three-game series at that time. We open up with Indiana State and down the road we have Sam Houston State, both of which are teams that played in a NCAA regional last year. We also have a tough foe in Stephen F. Austin. We will be challenged, especially early with the coaching transition; we obviously know Coach Deggs (Sam Houston State) very well. Again, having the home games, especially early, allows our players to play in front of our fans and also allows their families to come, which will result in a great crowd and a great atmosphere. We also hope those things will help build confidence for our team in the early part of the season and that will help tremendously as we get into Sun Belt play.”
The Warhawks will also face Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff during the non-conference season. During Sun Belt play, the Warhawks will host South Alabama, UT Arlington, Arkansas State, Troy and UL-Lafayette. In addition to the road series at Texas State, ULM will also have road series at Appalachian State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and UALR.
The 2015 Sun Belt Tournament will take place from May 20-24, 2015 and this year’s event will take place in Troy, Ala.
