MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The Central Michigan baseball team will open the 2016 season with a three-game series at Arkansas Feb. 19-21, the first three of 20 late-winter/early spring games away from Mount Pleasant.
The Chippewas are slated to play host to Bowling Green in a non-conference game in their home opener on March 22, and will begin defense of their Mid-American Conference regular-season championship with a three-game home series against Kent State March 25-27.
The pre-MAC schedule includes trips to Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and Cincinnati, Ohio. Among the opponents the Chippewas will face on those trips are defending Big Ten champion Illinois, Grand Canyon, Tennessee and Stetson, among others.
“Arkansas was in the (2015) College World Series, so that’s a pretty high-profile program, and Tennessee is in the same conference (Southeastern) as them,” CMU coach Steve Jaksa said. “Grand Canyon is a really strong program.
“We’ve got a veteran squad that we feel can go out there and compete on a national level. We’ve got some guys who have been through the wars.
“Obviously we’ll be tested right off the bat in a fun environment (at Arkansas). It’ll be loud. It’ll be crowded. It’s an exciting opportunity to go down there and play them, and it’s going to be a challenge for us. We’ve got to be ready to play right out of the gate.”
The league schedule comprises eight weekends, five of them at Theunissen Stadium, beginning with the Kent State series.
Each MAC school is scheduled to play 24 conference games as opposed to 27. League member Akron dropped its baseball program after last season, leaving a void in the schedule for several teams, including CMU.
The Chippewas have filled that opening with a three-game series at Missouri State, a team that won a school-record 49 games last season (against 12 losses) and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional. The Chippewas will travel to Springfield, Mo., to play the Bears March 31-April 2.
After Kent State, the Chippewas’ home MAC series are against Ball State (April 15-17), Toledo (April 22-24), Miami (May 13-15), and Western Michigan (May 19-21). CMU will play MAC opponents Northern Illinois (April 8-10), Eastern Michigan (April 29-May 1) and Ohio (May 6-8) on the road.
The Chippewas will play their normal assortment of mid-week non-league games against in-state rivals Michigan State, Michigan and Oakland, as well as Notre Dame.
The Chippewas’ Sixth Annual Clash at Comerica with Michigan State is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13.
The MAC Tournament returns to All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon, Ohio, May 25-29.
2016 Central Michigan Schedule
