DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman Baseball officially announced the 2017 schedule on Thursday, January 5. Under the direction of head coach Jason Beverlin, set to begin his sixth year at the helm in Daytona Beach, the Wildcats will play a total of 52 regular season games on this year’s slate.
In all, 23 home games will be played inside the friendly confines of Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, with three additional home games taking place at Sanford Memorial Stadium in nearby Sanford, Florida.
Bethune-Cookman, the reigning 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament Champions – and participants in the NCAA [Gainesville] Regional, opens the 2017 campaign with 18 of its first 21 games at home. In fact, the Wildcats don’t leave the Sunshine Stateuntil a conference series at North Carolina A&T on March 25.
The schedule begins with a three-game set at home against Boston College (Feb. 17-19) out of the ACC, followed by a mid-week clash with traditional in-state opponent North Florida (Feb. 22). The Wildcats then travel to Florida Gulf Coast (Feb. 24-26), followed by 14 consecutive home games against teams from Dartmouth, Fairfield, Florida A&M, North Carolina Central, Stetson, Tennessee Tech and UCF, respectively.
The Wildcats host Florida A&M, last year’s MEAC Southern Division champions, in the first conference series of the year for both teams, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 11. The series concludes with a single game the following day.
Other notable series on this year’s schedule include meetings at FAMU (April 14-15) and at North Carolina Central (April 22-23). The final non-conference series of the year takes place at Miami (May 5-7) inside Mark Light Field in Coral Gables.
Bethune-Cookman will also play at FIU (April 11) and host the Panthers in a return game on May 3. The return game between B-CU and FIU marks the return for first-year FIU head coach Mervyl Melendez to Jackie Robinson Ballpark since 2011, when he served as the head coach of the Wildcats in their MEAC record-setting unbeaten streak from 2008-11.
The annual MEAC Tournament will take place at A.W. Perdue Stadium, home of the Shorebirds of the Baltimore Orioles organization. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore serves as the host of the event for the third consecutive year in Salisbury, Maryland. The tournament takes place May 17-20.
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