TROY, Alabama – The 2016 Troy baseball schedule, headlined by home games against Mississippi State, Alabama, UL Lafayette and South Alabama, was announced Wednesday by head coach Mark Smartt.
“This schedule is tough, but we are very excited about it, Smartt said. “It brings a tough road schedule, as always, but offers a lot of games at home with a few big matchups. We are excited about the upcoming spring and hope fans can come out and watch.”
The Trojans, who play 30 of their 56 games at Riddle-Pace Field, host Alabama on March 1 and Mississippi State on May 11. The Crimson Tide have made the NCAA Tournament two out of the last three years and the Bulldogs played in the NCAA College World Series Finals in 2013.
“We are excited to host both Alabama and Mississippi State” Smartt said. “Alabama returns to Troy for the first time since 2012 and Mississippi State will make their first ever appearance at Riddle-Pace Field.”
Troy opens the season hosting a four-game series against Northern Kentucky (Feb. 19-21) and before hosting UAB (Feb. 24) in a weekday matchup. The Trojans will then travel to Hammond, La., for a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 26-28), who posted a 42-17 record in 2015 and were Southland Conference regular season champions.
The month of March will see Troy only play five home games. The Trojans open the month hosting Alabama on March 1 and only play at Riddle-Pace Field four more times during the month. The Trojans defeated the Crimson Tide 9-0 in the last meeting at Riddle-Pace Field in 2012. Troy travels to UAB (March 2) to face the Blazers in Regions Park before heading to Pensacola, Fla., to participate in the Cox Diamond Invitational, where they will face Auburn (March 4), who appeared in a NCAA Regional last year, Southern Miss (March 5) and Michigan State (March 6).
“We have 15 games scheduled prior to our first conference series and only six of them are in Troy,” Smartt said. “We travel to Southeastern Louisiana who comes off a 40 plus win season in the second weekend and then return to Pensacola for a tournament for the second year in a row.”
The Trojans will finish the road trip with a pair of mid-week games against Samford (March 8) and Jacksonville State (March 9).
“We close out the pre-conference schedule with a tough two-game midweek trip to Samford and Jacksonville State,” Smartt said. “Those 15 games will help our team be prepared for the Sun Belt schedule”
Troy welcomes UL Lafayette (March 11-13) for a three game series to open conference play. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference Tournaments and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament the last three years. The Trojans close out March with three game series at Georgia Southern (March 18-20) and Little Rock (March 24-26) before hosting Alabama A&M (March 22) and Alabama State (March 29).
“A big measure of our schedule is the demanding 30 Sun Belt Conference games each year,” Smartt said. “Our conference is closely balanced from top to bottom so each week will offer a significant challenge to our team. We had a great conference record at home in 2015 and we hope to continue that success this season. The 15 conference road games are always difficult, regardless of the team we are scheduled to play.”
April opens with an eight game homestand, beginning with a three-game series at home against New Orleans (April 1-3). Samford (April 5), Appalachian State (April 8-10) and Jacksonville State (April 12) visit Riddle-Pace Field to complete the homestand. The Trojans head to Jonesboro, Ark., for a three-game series against Arkansas State (April 15-17) and then to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a mid-week matchup against Alabama (April 19). Troy wraps up April hosting UT Arlington (April 22-24) and traveling to Texas State (April 29-May 1).
The Trojans play three mid-week games in May, two of them against SEC opponents. Troy travels to Alabama State (May 4) and Auburn (May 10), before hosting Mississippi State for the first time in school history to wrap up non-conference play. Troy hosts ULM (May 6-8) and travels to Georgia State (May 13-15), before closing out the regular season against South Alabama (May 19-21), who were the Sun Belt regular season champions last year.
The Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held May 25-29 in San Marcos, Texas.
