STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook baseball team, the 2015 America East Conference champions and NCAA Fort Worth Regional participants, unveiled its 2016 schedule that includes road series at BIG XII Conference member Baylor and BIG EAST foe Creighton as well as a 24-game America East slate.
The Seawolves will also participate in two tournaments on the road, including at Wofford in South Carolina to open the season on Feb. 19, and at Elon in North Carolina in early March. Stony Brook will face Dayton, Wofford and USC Upstate during the opening weekend and take on Appalachian State, Elon and Bowling Green on March 4-6.
In between the tournaments Stony Brook will travel to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor for a three-game series Feb. 26-28. It will be the first regular season visit to the state of Texas for the Seawolves.
“Our schedule will allow our players to enjoy great experiences, be challenged and to improve and grow together in pursuit of both a conference championship and an NCAA appearance,” Stony Brook head coach Matt Senk said. “We are excited and ready to go.”
Stony Brook will open the home slate against NYIT on March 2 at Joe Nathan Field.
Other notable non-conference matchups feature a three-game series at BIG EAST member Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, in Stony Brook’s return to the site of the 2012 College World Series. The Seawolves battle the Blue Jays March 25-27. SBU will also travel up to Bryant for a three-game set April 22, 23 and 24.
The Seawolves begin their defense of the America East regular season title with a three-game tilt at UMBC March 19-20 before hosting Maine April 2-3. Stony Brook will also host UMass-Lowell (April 16-17), UMBC (April 30-May 1) and UAlbany (May 19-20). The Seawolves will face Hartford (April 9-10) on the road, along with Binghamton (May 7-8) and Maine (May 14-15).
Stony Brook will also host single games against St. Peter’s on Friday March 11 and Villanova on Saturday March 12, before traveling over to Fordham for a game on Sunday, March 13.
The Seawolves will also play mid-week non-conference home games against Iona (March 15), 2015 NCAA Regional participant Sacred Heart (March 22), Manhattan (April 6) and Central Connecticut (April 20). Stony Brook will travel to Marist (March 29), Iona (April 5), LIU Brooklyn (April 13), Fairfield (April 27) and NYIT (May 3) for mid-week games.
The Seawolves return 19 players from last year’s squad that posted a 35-16-1 overall record and an 18-4-1 conference mark. Among the returners are seven position starters, including the 2015 America East Player of the Year Jack Parenty (Wantagh, N.Y.) and fellow first team all-conference member Toby Handley (Whitby, Ontario). On the mound Stony Brook returns seven-game winner and first team all-conference member Tyler Honahan (Parker, Colo.) and Cameron Stone (West Haven, Conn.), who collected six saves with a 1.04 ERA in s16 appearances.
