Minneapolis, Minn. – Head coach John Anderson announced the 2017 schedule Thursday which includes 13 games in US Bank Stadium and the return of the Dairy Queen Classic.
Minnesota is scheduled to play 55 regular season games this season, 32 of which will be home games. The Big Ten tournament location has yet to be announced.
“As we embark on the 129th Season of Golden Gopher Baseball, the 2017 schedule features many outstanding teams from some of the top conferences in the country,” Anderson said. “Playing against this strong competition will help prepare us for the challenges of Big Ten Conference play in the second half of the season. Highlights include a new beginning for the program at impressive US Bank Stadium where we will play 13 games in February and March, featuring the return of the DQ Classic Tournament. The opportunity to play 32 home games, with 19 at beautiful Siebert Field, is exciting for our players and fans. We will continue to prepare our team through the coming months for a very challenging schedule that starts with one of the top programs on the West Coast in UC- Irvine. ”
The Gophers will open the 2017 season with a three-game series in Irvine, Cal., as they take on UC-Irvine Feb. 17-19. The Anteaters finished in seventh place in the Big West last season and have 13 straight seasons of 30 or more wins.
Minnesota will then return home to play the first baseball games in US Bank Stadium versus Seattle University, the reigning WAC regular season champions (Feb. 24-26). This will also mark the first February home game for the Gophers since the 2013 season.
The Maroon and Gold will host North Dakota State (Feb. 28) and Hawaii (March 2) at US Bank Stadium before the return of the Dairy Queen Classic.
The DQ Classic returns to the Twin Cities March 3-5 after a four-year hiatus. Minnesota will play Oral Roberts in the first game of the tournament. The Golden Eagles are the reigning Summit League champions. They will play Hawaii for the second time in as many days then finish off the tournament with a non-conference game versus Iowa.
South Dakota State (March 7) and Milwaukee-Wisconsin (March 8) will both come to US Bank Stadium for one game before the Gophers play their final games in the new stadium against Missouri State (March 10-12).
The Gophers will then head back out to the West Coast for one game versus Cal-Berkeley (March 14) and then play a three-game series against Sacramento State March 17-19. The Golden Bears finished last season with a 32-21 record while the Hornets were 30-28.
Minnesota opens Big Ten play March 24-26 at Ohio State. Last season the Buckeyes won the Big Ten tournament and finished the season 44-20-1.
The Gophers will then head to Lawerence, Kan., for a two-game series against the University of Kansas (March 28-29). The Jayhawks and Gophers have faced off nine times during Anderson’s coaching career and Minnesota has won six of those games.
The Maroon and Gold will conclude their 12-game road trip with a three-game series in East Lansing, Mich., against Michigan State. The Spartans finished last season with a 36-21 record (13-10 conference). In the Anderson era, Minnesota is 50-23 versus Michigan State.
The Gophers will play their first home outdoor game of the season against North Dakota State at Siebert Field Apr. 4. The Gophers won two of their three meetings versus the Bison last season.
Minnesota continues its opening home stand with a three-game series against fellow Big Ten School Rutgers (Apr. 7-9). The Scarlet Knights had a 27-28 record last season and were 9-15 in the conference.
The Gophers will head to Fargo, N.D., Apr. 11 to take on North Dakota State for second time before heading out to Bloomington, Ind. where they will play Indiana (Apr. 14-16) in a Big Ten contest.
The Maroon and Gold return to Siebert Field Apr. 18 when they once again take on South Dakota State for one game. Next the Gophers will host Nebraska for a three-game series (Apr. 21-23). Last season the Huskers had a 37-22 record (16-8 conference) and lost in the NCAA Regionals.
Apr. 25 will see Minnesota travel to Northern Illinois for one game before returning home to host Illinois for a three-game series (Apr. 28-30). In the Anderson era, the Gophers at 68-56 versus the Fighting Illini. Last season, Minnesota defeated Illinois twice in three games.
The Gophers will begin the month of May with a two-game series against Georgia State (May 2-3). Last season the Panthers had an overall record of 24-31.
The final road trip of the regular season will be to Penn State May 5-7. The Nittany Lions were 28-27 last season and 12-12 in the conference.
Minnesota will finish off the regular season with five games at Siebert Field. The first three games will be against Long Beach State (May 12-14) who made it to the NCAA Regionals last season. The last two games will be versus Purdue who had a 10-44 record (2-22 conference) in 2016.
The 2017 Big Ten Tournament is slated for May 24-28 while the NCAA Regionals are scheduled for June 2-4.
2017 Minnesota Baseball Schedule
