KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Baseball Program and Head Coach Dave Serrano officially announced the 2016 Vol Baseball season schedule this week, a 56-game slate featuring tournament appearances at Grand Canyon University and East Carolina University as well as two neutral site matchups at minor league ballparks.
In total, the Volunteers will take on eight 2015 NCAA postseason participants, including the University of Maryland, Morehead State and East Carolina University. In conference play, the Vols will also face off against College World Series squads Vanderbilt, Louisiana State University and the 2015 SEC Tournament Champion Florida Gators.
“I’m excited about the challenges that this year’s schedule will present for our team,” Serrano said. “Staying with my philosophy of playing as good of a non-conference schedule as possible, I believe we have done that again this year. We are well aware of the 10 week grind of the SEC schedule and this year will be no different.”
In February, Tennessee will travel to Chattanooga to open their 2016 season with a three-game set (Feb. 19-21) against the University of Memphis at AT&T Ballpark, home of the Minnesota Twins’ Double A Chattanooga Lookouts. As the home team, the Vols will play three games in a professional baseball venue for the first time since 2012, when UT participated in the Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
The Vols head west during their second week of the season, taking on Grand Canyon University, Saint Mary’s College (Calif.) and Central Michigan from Feb. 26-28 at the Grand Canyon University Classic in Phoenix, Ariz. The following weekend (March 4-6), UT will play in East Carolina’s 2016 Keith LeClair Classic, facing Southeastern Louisiana, East Carolina and back-to-back NCAA Regional Champion Maryland over three games.
On March 11, the Volunteers will welcome Serrano’s former UC Irvine program to Rocky Top, marking the Anteaters’ first-ever trip to Lindsey Nelson Stadium and Tennessee’s final non-conference home weekend matchup before the start of SEC play. UT will then travel to Asheville, N.C., to play in their second professional ballpark of the 2016 season, as UNC Asheville will host the Vols at the Asheville Tourists’ home McCormick Field.
The Orange and White open their 2016 SEC schedule welcoming the Ole Miss Rebels to Knoxville from March 18-20, the first time for UT to begin conference play at home since 2011 (also against Ole Miss). Tennessee later plays host to conference rivals Kentucky (April 1-3), Vanderbilt (April 22-24), Florida (May 6-8) and Louisiana State University (May 13-15) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
This year, the Volunteers’ SEC road schedule includes trips to Alabama (March 25-27), South Carolina (April 8-10), Auburn (April 15-17), Missouri (April 29-May 1) and Georgia (May 19-21) for the final weekend of regular season competition.
Rounding out the program’s non-conference schedule, UT will hold midweek games against Cincinnati (March 2), Western Kentucky (March 8), Tennessee Tech (March 22), UNC Asheville (March 30), Morehead State (April 6), Appalachian State (April 12), Alabama State (April 13), Eastern Kentucky (April 26) and Belmont (May 10). The Vols will also visit ETSU (March 9) and MTSU (April 19).
“I think our fans will enjoy having the likes of Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, LSU and Florida all at Lindsey Nelson Stadium this year,” Serrano said. “Opening with in-state rivals Memphis in AT&T Park in Chattanooga will be a great experience. Then heading out west to play in Grand Canyon’s tournament and the challenging Keith LeClair Classic in back-to-back weekends will really test our team.”
The 2016 SEC Tournament, which features the league’s top 12 finishers in the regular season, is set for May 24-29 in Hoover, Ala. NCAA Regional action will take place on June 3-6, followed by NCAA Super Regional play from June 10-13.
The 2016 NCAA College World Series returns to Omaha, Neb., on June 18-29. Tennessee has made four previous appearances at the College World Series (1951, 1995, 2001 and 2005).
All game dates are tentatively set and subject to change. Season ticket information and the full schedule of game times will be released at a later date.
2016 Tennessee Baseball Schedule
