NORFOLK, Va. – Non-conference matchups with two NCAA regional participants from 2015, 29 home games and several intrastate rivalries are highlights of the 2016 Norfolk State University baseball schedule, which was released on Tuesday.
“This is one more of the more challenging schedules we have put together in a while,” assistant coach Joey Seal said. “From start to finish, we play a lot of very well-coached programs who will challenge us from February until our MEAC Tournament in May. “
The Spartans, coming off their first-ever MEAC Northern Division regular-season title and a school Division I record 27 wins last season, will get re-acquainted with their home fans quickly, as 10 of the team’s first 11 games are at home. The Spartans’ February slate includes a pair of weekend home series, against defending Patriot League champion Lehigh (Feb. 20-21) and NJIT (Feb. 27-28). Sandwiched in between is a non-conference mid-week game on Feb. 23 at Old Dominion, the two programs’ first meeting since 2013.
All told, the Spartans play their first four weekend series of the year at home. After the Lehigh and NJIT series, NSU welcomes Wagner of the Northeast Conference (March 5-6) and Towson of the Colonial Athletic Association (March 11-13) to Marty L. Miller Field. Wagner won 27 games and Towson 17 a year ago. The Spartans also have a two-game, home-and-home series with North Carolina Central of the MEAC’s Southern Division slated for March 2 (Norfolk) and March 9 (Durham) in the first part of March.
After a road game at CAA baseball power William & Mary on March 15, NSU opens MEAC North play by hosting Delaware State on March 19-20. The Spartans close the month of March at UMES on March 25-26 and at Longwood for a mid-week non-league game on March 29.
Those four games to end March are the start of 11 straight road contests for the Spartans. NSU opens April with a MEAC North series at Coppin State on April 2-3. The road stretch concludes with a series at Delaware State (April 9-10) and a single game at defending CAA Champion and NCAA Super Regional participant VCU (April 12).
The long road stretch to start April is followed by a 12-game homestand to finish April’s schedule and open the month of May. NSU has home MEAC series with UMES (April 16-17), Coppin State (April 23-24) and Delaware State (April 30-May 1) and home games with William & Mary (April 20), Longwood (April 26) and Richmond (May 4) to conclude their home schedule. The regular-season slate ends with a final MEAC series at Coppin State (April 7-8) and a single non-conference game at Duke of the ACC on May 11 in Durham, N.C.
“The quality of our non-conference opponents speaks for itself. Our student-athletes are excited about the opportunity to face some of the best programs in the state of Virginia and also some programs who have never been to NSU or haven’t in some time,” Seal said. “We also have an ACC school and two regional participants that are going to be as tough as any game on the schedule.”
The 2016 MEAC Championship tournament will be held from May 19-22 at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Md.
“Overall, with more than half of our games at home, we are excited about our 2016 slate,” Seal said. “It will present a lot of challenges, but it will prepare us very well for what we hope is a strong post-season run.”
2016 Norfolk State Baseball Schedule
