LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With its debut season in the Atlantic Coast Conference on the horizon, the University of Louisville baseball program released its 2015 schedule on Thursday, highlighted by 28 of 56 games against programs in last year’s NCAA Championship.
Among the most challenging schedules in school history, the Cardinals will follow back-to-back College World Series seasons with a 33-game home slate in 2015 featuring perennial ACC leaders Florida State, Miami and Georgia Tech as well as non-conference matchups against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Overall, Louisville will play six games against 2014 CWS clubs with a three-game series at national runner-up Virginia, a two-game home set with Ole Miss and a midweek home contest against reigning NCAA champion Vanderbilt in the annual Battle of the Barrel.
“This schedule is as challenging and demanding as any in the nation and we’re excited about the road in front of us in 2015,” said Louisville head coach Dan McDonnell. “Ten weeks of regular season baseball in the spotlight of the ACC combined with all of the challenging non-conference opponents on this schedule should certainly prepare our players for the postseason and the road to Omaha.”
Louisville will open the 2015 season in Clearwater, Fla., at the South Florida Tournament where they will face Alabama State (Feb. 13, 3 p.m., ET), USF (Feb. 14, 7 p.m.) and Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 15, 11 a.m.) at Bright House Field. It will mark the fifth time in the last seven years the Cardinals have opened their season in the state of Florida.
The Cardinals’ 2015 home-opener at Jim Patterson Stadium is set for Feb. 18 against Eastern Kentucky in a contest that will open an eight-game homestand for Louisville. It will mark the third straight season the Colonels have played in Louisville’s home-opener. The homestand will also include a weekend series with Milwaukee (Feb. 20-22), a midweek game against Butler (Feb. 24) and a weekend set versus Xavier (Feb. 27-March 1).
After a visit to EKU on March 3, Louisville will begin its 30-game ACC schedule at home against defending ACC Coastal Division champion Miami on March 6-8. The early-season series will be the second visit to Patterson Stadium in three years for the Hurricanes, who competed in the 2013 NCAA Regional in Louisville won by the Cardinals.
The month of March will continue with a two-game, mid-week home series against Ole Miss (March 10-11), a home weekend series with ACC foe Boston College (March 13-15) and a visit by Purdue (March 17). Following an ACC road series at Notre Dame (March 20-22) and a midweek visit to Indiana (March 24), Louisville closes the month with a three-game conference set at home against Georgia Tech (March 27-29) and a single home game against Miami (Ohio) on March 31.
Louisville begins April with a weekend series at Virginia on April 4-6 before hosting Kentucky on April 8 at Patterson Stadium. The Cardinals then return to the road for a weekend set at Duke (April 10-12) and a midweek game at Ohio State (April 14). On April 17-19, Wake Forest will visit Louisville for a three-game series for the Cardinals travel to Cincinnati for a midweek contest on April 21. Louisville will return home to host Western Kentucky (April 22) and Bethune-Cookman (April 24-26) before closing the month at Kentucky on April 28.
The final month of the regular season will be a challenging slate for the Cardinals with a road series at Clemson (May 2-4), a home series against reigning ACC Atlantic Division champion Florida State (May 8-10) and a midweek visit by Vanderbilt (May 12) for the home finale at Patterson Stadium. Louisville will close the regular season on the road at NC State on May 14-16.
The 2015 ACC Baseball Championship is set for May 19-24 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C., while the 2015 NCAA Championship is scheduled to begin on May 29 with regional play. The College World Series in Omaha, Neb., is slated from June 13-23/24 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.
