University of Notre Dame baseball coach Mik Aoki has announced the schedule for his seventh campaign at the helm of the Irish program. The season opens at the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio on Friday, Feb. 17.
This year’s slate features 10 opponents which qualified for the 2016 NCAA Championship, as well as three which advanced to an NCAA Super Regional. Of those three Super Regional foes, two will visit Frank Eck Stadium in Florida State (March 24-26) and Louisville (May 5-7) to bookend home ACC play. The schedule also sees the Irish return to a Major League ballpark, as they take on Central Michigan on April 18 at Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers.
The Irish will compete at the Alamo Irish Classic the opening weekend, followed by a trip west to San Diego for the Tony Gwynn Classic (Feb. 24-26) and the USA Baseball-Irish Classic in Cary, North Carolina (March 3-5) prior to opening conference play.
Frank Eck Stadium will open its gates on Tuesday, March 21, when Northern Illinois visits. The home slate includes Atlantic Coast Conference series with Florida State (March 24-26), NC State (March 31-April 2), Georgia Tech (April 7-9), Duke (April 28-30) and Louisville (May 5-7).
Visiting The Eck for non-conference games beyond NIU in the home opener, opponents will include Toledo, Chicago State, Michigan State, Illinois State, Valparaiso, Eastern Michigan and Austin Peay. The Irish will also make the short trip to downtown South Bend for an exhibition with the Class-A South Bend Cubs on Wednesday, April 5.
On the road, the Irish visit Clemson (March 10-12), Pittsburgh (March 17-19) Wake Forest (April 14-16), Virginia (April 21-23) and Boston College (May 18-20).
The 2017 ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 23-28 at Louisville Slugger Field in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Cincinnati Reds’ Triple-A affiliate Louisville Bats.
