BALTIMORE, Md. – Head coach Sherman Reed and the Coppin State University baseball team has announced its schedule for the 2015 season. The spring slate is highlighted by 20 home games at Joe Cannon Field, trips to Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina along with home-and-home non-conference contests against Georgetown, Lehigh, George Washington and UMBC.
Coppin State will also play Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponents Delaware State, Norfolk State and Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Eagles will host Delaware State twice and make a pair of visits to Norfolk State. The second Delaware State home doubleheader on Saturday, April 25 will be Alumni Day. Coppin State will play a home-and-home set against UMES.
The non-conference portion of the schedule features matchups with opponents from nine different conferences.
“We continue to seek to play the most competitive schedule available to us,” Reed said. “It acts as a great recruiting tool for us as potential student-athletes are impressed by the strong level of competition we face.”
Coppin State starts the season with a three-game set at Jacksonville University on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Eagles’ first seven games are on the road. Following the Jacksonville trip, the Eagles visit Navy on Wednesday, Feb. 27 before traveling to face Morehead State in a three-game series that weekend in Morehead, Kentucky.
Coppin State’s home opener is against UMBC on March 4 at 2:00 p.m.
Coppin State’s schedule also features games against Patriot League regular season co-champion Army. The Eagles will play the Black Knights at Mount St. Mary’s on March 7 and then host them the following day. Overall, prior to its conference opener, nine of Coppin State’s first 10 games are against opponents it didn’t play last season.
Another highlight of the Eagles’ non-conference slate is their annual visit to Towson on April 14, Reed’s alma mater.
The Eagles’ opening Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series is a three-game road set at Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, March 14.
Other important dates for the Eagles include its home conference opener against Delaware State on Saturday, March 21. That series against the Hornets will be the first meeting between the two teams since the Eagles captured a 6-1 victory in the MEAC tournament to eliminate Delaware State last May.
Prior to that series against Delaware State, the Eagles will play a pair of mid-week road games against a Wofford squad that won 30 games last season on Tuesday, March 17 and Wednesday, March 18.
The Eagles also close the regular season conference season with two games against Norfolk State on the road. The MEAC tournament runs from Wednesday, May 13 through Sunday, May 17 in Salisbury, Maryland.
The Eagles finished third in the MEAC Northern Division last season and won a game in the conference postseason tournament for the second consecutive season. Coppin State won 12 games during an injury-riddled season in which 11 key players missed significant time. The Eagles return a pair of .300 hitters in senior outfielders Jeffrey Fitch (.311 batting average) and Jack Kraft (.307).
“We have another very challenging out-of-conference schedule designed to make us battle tested prior to entering conference play,” Reed said. “The guys are really looking forward to trips to Florida, Kentucky, and South Carolina to battle great programs like Jacksonville, Morehead State, and Wofford. When we return from these trips, we will have a much better read on where we can go this spring.”
