CINCINNATI – Head coach Scott Googins and Xavier baseball have officially announced their 2015 baseball schedule, which features a full slate of 55 games and 16 home tilts.
The defending BIG EAST Conference Tournament champions will host Seton Hall, Georgetown and Butler in league play while welcoming local opponents Wright State, Miami, Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati and Dayton to Hayden Field.
Xavier will also face 2014 NCAA Tournament teams Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky as part of a challenging schedule with all 26 of its opponents combining to average 28.2 wins last season. XU will face 13 teams that won 30 or more games a year ago. Overall, the 2015 schedule features teams that combined for a 734-693-2 (.514) record.
The Musketeers are coming off a 30-29 campaign (8-10 BIG EAST) that saw the program make its second all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, where the team went 1-2 in the Nashville, Tenn. Regional.
The schedule opens on Feb. 13 with XU taking on Army in Spartanburg, S.C. as part of a four-game weekend.
After facing the Black Knights, who went 33-18 in 2014, the Musketeers will face off against ACC opponent Boston College and then get Wofford as part of a Saturday doubleheader. The Terriers are coming off a school record 32-win season – their first winning season since 1992 – and a semifinal appearance in the Southern Conference Tournament. A second game with BC is scheduled for Sunday to finish out the road trip.
The Musketeers return to South Carolina for a second straight weekend to take part in the First Pitch Invitational hosted by Furman. XU faces the Paladins to kick off the weekend on Friday at 5:00 p.m. before facing Presbyterian on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Sunday’s tilt will be a big one, as Xavier faces 2014 Big Ten champion Indiana at 11:00 a.m. The Hoosiers are coming off a 44-15 season and a second straight Big Ten Tournament championship.
Three straight games at Louisville follow from Feb. 27-March 1. The Cardinals are coming off a berth in the College World Series and a 50-win season in 2014, one of just four programs nationally to hit that plateau.
XU then squeezes in a midweek rivalry game at Cincinnati before heading to Auburn, Ala. for a weekend series against the Tigers from March 6-8.
On March 10-11, XU will play Wright State in Dayton before coming back to Hayden Field for a rematch against the Raiders. WSU went 35-22 in 2014 and fell in the Horizon League Championship game.
A trip to New Orleans, La. in mid-March will see the Musketeers face Tulane three times before returning home to play a similar home-and-away against Miami (Oh.).
The last big road trip in March will see XU return to Nashville to face Lipscomb. The Musketeers then close out the month against a collection of local opponents.
BIG EAST play opens with a homestand against Seton Hall from April 2-4. The Pirates are coming off a 38-15 season and swept XU in South Orange, N.J. last season in the first meeting between the two programs as BIG EAST opponents.
After a mid-week home game against Ball State, XU heads to Omaha, Neb. to face Creighton in a three-game set – a rematch of the 2014 BIG EAST Championship. The Bluejays are coming off a 32-17-1 season and took two of three against XU last season at Hayden Field before splitting against the Musketeers at the BIG EAST Championships. The finale was a 5-0 championship game win by XU, bolstered by a complete game shutout by Trent Astle.
Xavier participates in the 2015 Joe Nuxhall Classic after returning from Omaha, playing a pair of games against yet-to-be-determined opponents before hitting the road to face Villanova and Kentucky. UK, a 2014 NCAA team, was 37-25 overall a year ago.
Another four game homestand follows, as Xavier welcomes Cincinnati and Georgetown. A road trip for a midweek game at Tennessee closes out April.
Two more BIG EAST series finish off the regular season, at St. John’s and versus Butler, before the 2015 BIG EAST Championships – scheduled for May 21-24 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.
