Eastern Illinois baseball will begin a new era this upcoming spring, as first-year Head Coach Jason Anderson will enter the 2016 season leading the Panthers after having previously been an assistant coach the past three seasons. The Eastern Illinois baseball program has released its 2016 schedule which is set to begin in late February (19-21) with a three-game series at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The Panthers will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, where they will square off against last year’s College World Series Champion, Vanderbilt. EIU’s home opener will be on March 1, as Indiana State visits Coaches Stadium.
The Panthers will then head back on the road for another lengthy road trip which includes contests at Arkansas (Mar. 4-6) and Memphis (Mar. 18-20). The Panthers will begin OVC play on the road trip as they travel to Austin Peay for a three-game series on March 11-13.
EIU returns back to Charleston with a non-conference matchup against Robert Morris (Chicago) on March 22, before hosting conference foe Jacksonville State for three games beginning on March 24.
The Panthers will play host to other OVC contests against Tennessee Tech (Apr. 8-10), Belmont (Apr. 22-24), Morehead State (May 6-8), and finish the regular season hosting SIU Edwardsville (May 19-21).
EIU and the University of Illinois will continue their home-and-home tradition between the two programs. Illinois is coming off a historic season in which they were defeated by Vanderbilt in the NCAA Super Regionals and ended the year with a 50-10-1 record overall. Illinois will host the first contest on April 5, in Champaign, and EIU will once again host their portion of the event in Mattoon on April 19.
Other home non-conference games for the Panthers this season include Illinois College on April 20, Saint Louis on April 26, and Butler on May 10.
2016 Eastern Illinois Schedule
