DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats will play nine games against teams that participated in last season’s NCAA Baseball Tournament as part of its 2015 schedule, as announced by Head Coach Jason Beverlin.
The Wildcats will play before the home crowd at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in 21 of the 55 games slated for 2015, including 14 of the first 18 contests on the year.
“Just as we’ve done in the past, we’re playing a very tough schedule,” Coach Beverlin said. “We definitely have our work cut out for us, but it’s exciting and we will constantly get to see where we stand throughout the year and how much we’ve improved.”
As in 2013, the Wildcats will open the season with a major series against an NCAA Tournament participant, traveling to Statesboro, Ga. for a three-game set against 2014 Southern Conference Champion Georgia Southern at Clements Stadium, Feb. 13-15. After a mid-week trip (Feb. 17) to meet UCF in Orlando, the Wildcats welcome Atlantic Sun foe Mercer to “The Jack” for a three-game home opener weekend series (Feb. 20-22), kicking off a 14-game home stand. Mid-week meetings with cross-county rival Stetson (Feb. 24) and a rematch with UCF (Feb. 24) precede the beginning of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play, ending the month with a visit from MEAC Southern Division rival Florida A&M (Feb. 28-March 1).
Following the key series with the Rattlers, the Wildcats will meet Maine (March 4) in mid-week action, heading into a weekend with conference-mate North Carolina Central (March 7-8). B-CU will close out the home stand with visits from Jacksonville (March 10) and South Florida (March 11).
The Wildcats take to the road on the weekend for their first road conference series, traveling to North Carolina A&T’s to take on the Aggies at Memorial Stadium (March 14-15), returning to Daytona Beach for a third meeting with the UCF Knights (March 17), followed by the first meeting with Florida Atlantic (March 18) for the first time since 2011.
Following a three-game set at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers (March 20-22), the Wildcats return to wrap up the confirmed home slate with mid-week matchups versus Florida International [FIU] (March 24) and North Florida (March 25), and a weekend series with conference-mate Savannah State (March 28-29).
B-CU follows with a 10-game road stretch that includes conference series with FAMU (April 3-4) and NCCU (April 11-12), along with midweek meetings at FIU (March 31), NCAA Regional host Miami (April 1), North Florida (April 7) and Jacksonville (April 14).
Due to possible conflicts with the newly-minted Daytona Tortuga’s schedule in the Florida League, the venue for the rematch series with NC A&T (April 18-19) is not yet determined. The Wildcats and Aggies previously met at a neutral site in 2013 at historic Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, Fla.
In the latter part of April and beginning of May, the Wildcats will face their toughest stretch of the season, beginning with 2014 NCAA Regional host Florida (April 21) at McKethan Stadium. The Gators rejoin the schedule for the first time since meeting the Wildcats in the 2012 NCAA Gainesville Regional. B-CU rematches with South Florida (April 22) in Tampa, Fla. Next up is a trip to Jim Patterson Stadium for a three-game set against 2014 College World Series squad Louisville (April 24-26). The Cardinals finished as high as sixth in three of the four major NCAA final polls at the conclusion of last season.
Taking on Stetson in DeLand, Fla. on April 28, the Wildcats open May with the final conference series at Savannah State (May 2-3) and close the regular season with a trip to the southern tip of the Sunshine State for rematches with Florida Atlantic (May 5) and Miami (May 6). The Wildcats’ postseason begins with a trip to the mid-Atlantic region to defend their MEAC crown.
Hosted by Norfolk State in Virginia for the past three seasons, the MEAC Baseball Championships will have a new home in 2015, migrating to Salisbury, Md. and host Maryland Eastern Shore. The games will be played Thursday through Monday (May 14-18) at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, the home of the Delmarva Shorebirds, Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
Although the MEAC Baseball Championships will remain in bracket format to determine the title game contenders, the field has been trimmed from eight teams to six in 2015.
