Hempstead, NY – A nine-day road trip that features a three-game series at five-time College World Series participant UCLA and a five-game series at Hawaii highlights the 2015 Hofstra University baseball schedule, which was released today by Head Coach John Russo.
“I am very excited about our 2015 schedule,” said Coach Russo. “I think opening up with a team that has the history and tradition like UCLA will be beneficial for our student-athletes. In my mind, it is one of the top places to play in the country and we are looking forward to it. We are also looking forward to playing in Hawaii. The competition will be good for us and will help prepare us for the rigors of conference play, which starts up in mid-March. I think the Colonial Athletic Association will be tough once again. The addition of Elon adds another historically successful program to the mix and the battle for those six playoff spots will be fierce.”
The season opens February 13 in Los Angeles with a matchup against the Bruins of UCLA, which won the College World Series in 2013. The matchups mark the first time Hofstra and UCLA have met on the baseball diamond. Following the opening series, the Pride will make their first trip to the Hawaiian Islands for a five-game set against the Rainbow Warriors beginning February 18.
The Pride return from Hawaii to open their home schedule on March 3 versus Saint Joseph’s (PA) followed by a pair of home doubleheaders against Albany on March 7-8. Those games will be Hofstra’s final tune-up for Colonial Athletic Association play, which gets underway with a three-game home series against William & Mary on March 13-15.
Hofstra will host Towson (April 10-12), UNCW (April 17-19) and CAA-newcomer Elon (May 1-3) in conference series’, while traveling to Delaware (March 20-22), defending CAA champion and NCAA Super Regional participant Charleston (April 3-5), Northeastern (April 24-26) and James Madison (May 8-10).
The Pride’s remaining non-conference slate includes a three-game series at Villanova (March 27-29) and single games at Fordham (March 18) and St. John’s (March 25). The Pride will play Manhattan and NYIT in home-and-home contests, hosting the Jaspers on March 24 and then traveling to Riverdale on April 15. Hofstra is at NYIT on April 7 and then hosts the Bears a week later on April 14. Hofstra will also host Fairfield (March 31), LIU Brooklyn (April 22) and LIU Post (April 29).
The Colonial Athletic Association Championship will take place May 20-23 at Charleston.
