QUEENS, N.Y. – Following a season that was highlighted by a trip to the NCAA Tournament and a sweep of both the BIG EAST regular season and Tournament titles, St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer has released the 56-game schedule for the upcoming 2016 season.
The schedule features a total of 12 games against six teams that participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, including three-game sets against CSU Bakersfield, Florida State and Louisville. St. John’s will play games in 10 different states throughout the course of the regular season. The Red Storm will have 21 home games at Jack Kaiser Stadium, but will be on the road for 19 of the first 20 games.
“This is the toughest schedule we’ve had in a number of years and we’ll be tested right from the start,” Blankmeyer said. “The early portion of the schedule is loaded with perennial NCAA Tournament programs and high RPI teams, and playing all of those games on the road just adds to the challenge.”
A season-opening 15-game road trip begins in Wilmington, N.C., as the Red Storm takes part in the Buffalo Wild Wings Battle at the Beach. St. John’s opens the 2016 campaign against Richmond (Feb. 19) before taking on 2015 NCAA Tournament squad UNCW (Feb. 20). The opening weekend of action concludes against Western Carolina (Feb. 21).
St. John’s will play its next seven games against three teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. After a midweek matchup against NC State (Feb. 24), St. John’s heads to California for a three-game set against CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 26-28). The Red Storm continues the tough seven-game stretch with a trip to Tallahassee for a three-game series against 2015 Super Regional squad Florida State (March 4-6).
The Red Storm then returns to the Northeast, but stays on the road for midweek games against Iona (March 8) and Fairleigh Dickinson (March 9). A visit to Carbondale, Ill., follows as St. John’s takes on Southern Illinois (March 11-13) for a three-game series.
St. John’s hosts Fairfield (March 15) for a midweek home-opener before heading back on the road. Following a three-game series at Nevada (March 18-20), the Red Storm visits Marist (March 22) in midweek action.
Having played 19 of its first 20 games on the road, St. John’s plays 10 of the next 13 games at Kaiser Stadium. The Red Storm hosts La Salle (March 24-26) for three games before welcoming Wagner (March 30) for a midweek contest. St. John’s then takes on local foe NYIT (April 1-3) for a three-game series that will take place at alternating sites (home-road-home). Following a midweek trip to 2015 NCAA Tournament foe Columbia (April 6), St. John’s opens BIG EAST action at home against Georgetown (April 8-10).
After a midweek road game against Albany (April 12), St. John’s returns home to host Princeton (April 13) in midweek action at The Jack.
BIG EAST play continues as St. John’s heads to Villanova (April 15-17) for a three-game series. The Red Storm returns home to host Saint Peter’s (April 19) before heading back out on the road for a conference series at Xavier (April 22-24).
Two midweek games follow as St. John’s visits Hofstra (April 26) before hosting LIU Brooklyn (April 27).
St. John’s then renews a rivalry with a former BIG EAST foe as the Red Storm visits 2015 Super Regional squad Louisville (April 29-May 1). After returning to Kaiser Stadium to complete a midweek home-and-home series with Iona (May 3), the Red Storm hosts a conference series with Butler (May 6-8).
The Red Storm finishes the road portion of its regular season schedule with a BIG EAST series against longtime rival Seton Hall (May 13-15).
After a visit from Albany (May 17) completes a midweek home-and-home series, St. John’s wraps up the regular season with three games against Creighton (May 19-21) at Kaiser Stadium.
The BIG EAST Championship (May 26-29) will be held in Aberdeen, Md., at Ripken Stadium, home of the Class-A Short Season Aberdeen IronBirds.
2016 St. John’s Baseball Schedule
