The Canisius baseball team and 11th-year coach Mike McRae have announced the 2015 schedule for the Golden Griffins. Twelve games against a total of six teams who played in the 2014 NCAA Tournament appear on the non-conference schedule while Canisius will play 16 games at the Demske Sports Complex.
Canisius opens play at the Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach tournament (Feb. 13-16), hosted by Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with two games against Old Dominion and single contests against Richmond and the host Chanticleers. The Griffs’ season-opening 14-game road trip also includes a four-game series at Appalachian State, three-game series at Kentucky and four games at James Madison.
The Griffs open their 2015 home schedule against Buffalo on March 10, before heading to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Indiana State University Tournament. Canisius plays two games against the host Sycamores and single games against Central Michigan and Rutgers. On their way back to the East Coast, the Griffs will play a single game at Penn State on March 18.
The 2014 MAAC regular-season champions open the 24-game conference schedule with a three-game series at Iona (March 20-21). Canisius returns home for a season-long eight-game homestand, hosting Buffalo, Fairfield (March 28-29), Akron and Rider (April 4-5). After mid-week games against Horizon League champion Youngstown State and America East champion Binghamton, the Griffs travel to Saint Peter’s and then across town to face Buffalo.
During their open week on the MAAC schedule, Canisius plays three games at Atlantic 10 champion George Mason (April 17-19). Mid-week games at Buffalo and Akron are followed by a three-game series at Monmouth (April 25-26). After a doubleheader at Cornell wraps up the April schedule, Canisius plays three MAAC series in May — hosting Marist (May 2-3), playing at Siena (May 9-10) and hosting Niagara (May 14-15) to wrap up the regular-season.
The 2015 MAAC Championship will take place on May 20-23 at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. and feature six teams for the second consecutive season. The Griffs have qualified for the tournament in each of the past eight seasons, the longest stretch in the MAAC.
Canisius is one of 14 teams to win 40 or more games prior to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons. The Griffs also have 257 wins since 2008, the most in the Northeast, and a .635 winning percentage during that timeframe, which ranks 24th nationally and fifth among schools from non-power conferences.
