BOONE, N.C. — Twenty-six home games, road contests at South Carolina and Tennessee and an early-season neutral-site matchup versus defending national champion Virginia highlight Appalachian State University baseball’s 2016 schedule, head coach Billy Jones announced on Thursday.
Appalachian State opens the 26-game home slate on the second weekend of the 2016 season (Feb. 26-28) when it hosts Quinnipiac for a four-game series at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. The home schedule also includes three-game Sun Belt Conference series versus longtime rival Georgia Southern (March 11-13), Little Rock (April 1-3), South Alabama (April 15-17), Arkansas State (April 29-May 1) and UT Arlington (May 13-15), as well as a regular-season-ending non-conference set versus Longwood (May 19-21).
The mid-week portion of Appalachian’s home schedule is headlined by a visit from local rival Wake Forest on Tuesday, April 19. App State also hosts UNC Asheville (March 22), North Carolina Central (March 30) and North Carolina A&T (May 3) for non-conference contests at Smith Stadium.
The 2016 schedule includes several intriguing neutral-site games, beginning with three challenging contests at the season-opening Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway and Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Mountaineers kick off the season against host Coastal Carolina on Feb. 19, take on 2015 national champion UVa on Feb. 20 and battle Old Dominion on Feb. 21.
The most anticipated neutral-site game on Appalachian State’s schedule is an April 26 contest versus Wake Forest at BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte. The game marks the Mountaineers’ first-ever appearance at three-year-old BB&T Ballpark, the sparkling new uptown home of the triple-A Charlotte Knights.
Other neutral-site contests include a weekend tournament at Elon (March 4-6) that consists of two games against Stony Brook and one against the host Phoenix, plus March 9 and April 5 games against UNC Asheville and Campbell, respectively, at sites to be determined.
In true road games, Appalachian State has Sun Belt series at Texas State (March 18-20), UL Monroe (March 24-26), Troy (April 8-10), Georgia State (April 22-24) and UL Lafayette (May 6-8) and mid-week affairs at South Carolina (Feb. 23), N.C. Central (March 1), N.C. A&T (March 15) and Tennessee (April 12).
The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tournament is set for May 25-29 in San Marcos, Texas.
