Photo by Mark Alexander
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – After a second straight trip to the NCAA Super Regionals and a school record 42 wins, Maryland baseball head coach John Szefc announced the 2015 schedule Thursday afternoon.
The slate includes 17 games against teams with an RPI inside the top-50 from last season. Maryland will play 30 games at the newly enhanced Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium and travel to powerhouse programs Alabama and Cal State Fullerton.
“We are excited about the schedule we’ve put together this season,” said Szefc. “The goal of any schedule is to prepare us for the postseason and the high pressure situations you will encounter. The combination of teams we will play this season will provide us with quality experience throughout the season and hopefully lead to postseason play.”
Maryland opens its 2015 schedule with a trip to SEC powerhouse Alabama (Feb. 19-21). A road midweek date with VCU follows on Feb. 24. The Rams advanced the Super Regionals last season.
The home opener follows the next weekend as the Terps welcome Rhode Island to College Park for a three-game set (Feb. 26-28) before heading up the road to Delaware (March 1).
The Terrapins will head back on the road to participate in the 13th Annual Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C. Maryland will face Tennessee (March 4), Southeastern Louisiana (March 5) and ECU (March 6). The Terps will then host Delaware (March 8) and George Washington (March 9) in a pair of midweek dates. The five-game homestand culminates with a series against Bryant (March 11-13)
Maryland will make the trek out to California for four games. The Terps face UC Irvine (March 19) before making the return trip to Cal State Fullerton (March 18-20). The Titans advanced to the 2015 College World Series.
Liberty travels to College Park on March 22 before the Big Ten opener at Iowa (March 25-27). The Terps will then begin a four-game home stand against VCU (March 29) and High Point (April 1-3). On April 5, Maryland travels to Liberty for a midweek date before a home game with James Madison on April 6.
Maryland’s Big Ten home opener will come against Ohio State (April 8-10). A trip to Richmond (April 12) comes before a road series with Minnesota (April 15-17). The Terps will take on Pittsburgh (April 19) before Purdue makes the trek to College Park (April 22-24).
A midweek contest at James Madison (April 26) leads into a home series with Penn State (April 29-May 1). The annual Ripken Cup against Towson takes place May 4 at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen before the Terps host their third home series in three weekends against Illinois (May 6-8). The Illini were a Super Regional team in 2015.
Maryland heads to Morgantown on May 10 to face West Virginia followed by a home set with Rutgers (May 13-15)
The regular season comes to a close at Michigan State (May 20-22). The Big Ten Tournament is set to return to Omaha at TD Ameritrade Park (May 25-29).
