Photo by David Cohen (BHEphotos)
OREM, Utah – Utah Valley University head coach Eric Madsen has announced the team’s 2017 schedule, which opens at Wichita State in Wichita, Kansas in a three-games series beginning February 17.
The schedule breakdown includes 30 road games and 22 home games, played at Brent Brown Ballpark in Orem. The home opener is slated for Friday, March 3 against Indiana State. The series against the Sycamores will be a four-game set and finish on Monday, March 6.
The defending WAC Tournament champions will play five in-state games (three vs. BYU and two vs. Utah). The five midweek contests begin Wednesday, March 22 at Utah with the same two teams playing in Orem on April 25. Utah Valley will host BYU twice, on April 11 and May 2, and play once in Provo (May 16). Other midweek games for the Wolverines will be at San Francisco (Feb. 28) and at UNLV (April 4).
“As it always is, our non-conference schedule is there to help us prepare for WAC play and ultimately, the WAC Tournament,” Madsen said. “The run we made last year was special and for us to repeat that we need a challenging, but competitive schedule and I think this provides that.”
The season opens with a pair of three-game road series beginning with Wichita State before a trip the following weekend at UC Davis starting Friday, Feb. 24. The Wolverines also have road series at Washington State (March 9-11), and in Omaha at Creighton (March 17-19). Other than Indiana State, the lone home non-conference series will be April 7-9 against Incarnate Word.
The WAC season begins March 24 at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The first conference home series runs from March 30 – April 1 against Sacramento State. Other WAC home series will be Chicago State (April 21-22), New Mexico State (May 5-7) and Grand Canyon (May 12-14). In addition to UTRGV, the Wolverines are on the road in WAC play at CSU Bakersfield (April 13-15), Northern Colorado (April 28-30), and closes out the conference slate at defending regular season champion Seattle University (May 18-20).
“The WAC has become a very competitive league and I anticipate that again being the case. There are a number of teams that can challenge for the regular season title and it makes for great, competitive play that’s good for the players and the fans,” said Madsen.
The WAC Tournament will once again be held at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona May 24-28. The Wolverines swept four games at last season’s tournament to earn the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth. The trip to the postseason—in the Baton Rouge Regional—was the program’s first regional.
