Vanderbilt’s RO Coleman races down the line. Photo by David Cohen (BHEphotos)
Nashville, Tenn. – Vanderbilt is set to host 36 home games at Hawkins Field in 2016 with the team’s annual trip to the west coast visiting Stanford.
The Commodores, recently named the top program in the nation by D1Baseball.com, open the season at The Hawk against another west coast team in San Diego on February 19 for a three-game series. Illinois-Chicago visits Nashville the following weekend (Feb. 26-28) with former Commodore Brian Harris on the coaching staff as the Flames’ new volunteer assistant coach. The Dores then travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to take on Stanford (March 4-6). The Commodores and Cardinal square off for the first time since 2014 when the two programs met with a trip to Omaha on the line at Hawkins Field in a NCAA Super Regional. The two teams played twice in 2014 in Nashville with VU winning five of the six games, 2016 will serve as the Commodores’ first trip to Sunken Diamond since 2012. Vanderbilt wraps up the final week of non-conference games with a midweek, two-game set against Radford (March 8-9) and a three-game series against Xavier (March 11-13). The Dores met Radford in the NCAA Regional championship game last season and blanked Xavier in the 2014 NCAA Regional at Hawkins Field.
Vanderbilt opens Southeastern Conference play at home against Mississippi State (March 18-20), hosting the Bulldogs for the first time since 2013. The Dores’ sweep of the Bulldogs that season was part of a 14-game winning streak and helped VU to the best league record in SEC history at 26-3. The Commodores’ second-ever trip to Missouri comes the next weekend (March 25-27). The Dores swept the Tigers in Columbia in 2014.
South Carolina visits West End to open the month of April (March 31-April 2). Vanderbilt has dropped each of the last two series against the Gamecocks since taking all three games in 2013. A trip to the Bayou and LSU (April 7-9) marks the Commodores first series at LSU since 2012 when Vandy rallied to take the series on Sunday in 12 innings. VU has won six straight series against the Tigers dating back to 2006.
The Commodores return home to host Kentucky (April 15-17) to mark the midway point of the conference slate. VU is 14-4 against the Wildcats in the regular season over the last six seasons. Vanderbilt then travels to Tennessee (April 22-24) to take on the Volunteers to open the second half of the SEC schedule.
The Dores host Georgia (April 29-May 1) for the first time since 2014 when the two teams played a wild series opener that included the lights going out at Hawkins Field to suspend the first game. Former Vanderbilt assistant and Georgia head coach Scott Stricklin makes his second appearance at Vandy with the Bulldogs. The Commodores open back-to-back, tough weekend road trips with the program’s first-ever trip to Texas A&M (May 5-7). Vanderbilt and the Aggies have only met once in the regular season in 2014 but have faced off in the SEC Tournament in two of the last three seasons. The Dores wrap up the road schedule with a trip to Florida (May 13-15). The two programs have combined to win the last three SEC East division titles. Vandy’s last trip to Gainesville in 2014 saw the Dores win their first series there since 2006. Vanderbilt wraps up the regular season at home against Auburn (May 19-21). The Tigers make their first trip to Hawkins Field since 2012, when the Dores took two-of-three.
The Commodores’ midweek, non-conference slate is highlighted by the Battle of the Barrel against Louisville at Hawkins Field on May 10. Vanderbilt and crosstown rival Belmont will play a neutral site game at the Nashville Sounds’ new home – First Tennessee Ballpark – on March 29. Vanderbilt hosts UT-Martin, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech and Northern Illinois along with Radford in midweek games prior to league play. The Dores play a home-and-home with Middle Tennessee State and host Lipscomb and Western Kentucky. Central Arkansas is back on the schedule for the first time since 2013 along with Morehead State, who returns to The Hawk for the first time since 2009.
