The Murray State baseball team has released its 2016 schedule, which features 56 games in all, including 30 at Reagan Field in the second season for the Racers under head coach Kevin Moulder.
The Racers open the season in Daytona Beach, Fla., as they will open with a three-game set at Bethune-Cookman Feb. 19-21. Following its opening series, MSU will open at home with 10 consecutive games at Reagan Field, beginning with Harris Stowe Feb. 23. The first series played in Murray will be a four-game set as Northern Illinois comes to town Feb. 26-28, before the Racers open March on the 2nd against Lindenwood-Belleville. March 4-6 Missouri Valley opponent Creighton comes to Reagan Field for three games, before the Racers close their 10-game homestand against IPFW March 7.
MSU will play two games again this season against Kentucky, the first being played in Lexington March 9th. The two teams will play a game later in the season (May 17) at Brooks Stadium in Paducah.
The Racers begin the OVC season on the road as they will take on UT Martin, March 11-13. The Racers will then travel to Lawrence, Kan., for a pair of games against Kansas on March 15 and 16. The OVC home-opening series will be played March 18-20 against SIU Edwardsville and Memphis comes to Reagan Field for one game March 22.
After a three-game series March 24-26 at Austin Peay, the Racers will play non-conference games against Kentucky State and Southern Illinois on March 29 and 30, respectively. The contest against KSU will be at home, while the SIU game will be played in Carbondale, Ill. The Racers will host SIU April 6. The Racers’ next two series will be April 1-3 at home against Eastern Illinois and April 8-10 in Alabama against Jacksonville State.
April 12, Evansville comes to Murray for a non-conference game before the Racers travel to face St. Louis on April 13 and go to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss April 20. The next four games for the Racers will be at Reagan Field as they will host Tennessee Tech for a three-game set April 22-24 and Alabama A&M April 26.
The Racers will travel to two-time defending OVC regular season champion Southeast Missouri for three games April 29-May 1. Next, MSU hosts Belmont May 6-8 at Reagan Field, before traveling to Indiana to face Evansville for the second time in 2016, May 10th. MSU’s final two series will be at Eastern Kentucky May 13-15 before closing the regular season with a series at home against 2015 OVC Tournament champion Morehead State May 19-21.
The OVC Tournament will be held May 25-29 in Jackson, Tenn., for the seventh year in a row at The Ballpark in Jackson (formerly Pringles Park).
I am really excited about the challenging schedule that we were able to put together for this season,” said coach Moulder.
“I think it is a good balance of competition, regional rivals and home games for us. With home contests against some of our regional rivals such as Memphis, SIU and Evansville to mix in with our competitive conference schedule, I think it gives our fans a chance to come out and watch some really entertaining, high-level baseball. The Creighton series at home the weekend before we start conference play will be a great gauge of where we fit in as they will have one of the best mid-major teams in the country this season,” continued Moulder.
“Our night game with Kentucky May 17, at Brooks stadium in Paducah will be a great game for college baseball fans in our region and our state as a whole. I know we have a lot of Murray State supporters in the Paducah area so it will be great to get them to a game in Paducah. We will be expecting a great turnout and look forward to their support versus a tough SEC opponent.”
“As a program we are very excited about this upcoming season and the team can’t wait to get down to Daytona Beach to start the season.”
2016 Murray State Baseball Schedule
