NEW ORLEANS – The 2018 Tulane baseball schedule features games against nine postseason teams and 33 home contests, as part of a 56-game schedule, announced Thursday by Green Wave head coach Travis Jewett.
In the second year under Jewett, Tulane will play 22 games against nine teams that participated in the NCAA postseason last year, including two College World Series participants. The slate also includes 10 opponents – totaling 27 contests – that finished last season in the top 50 of the RPI.
The American Athletic Conference schedule runs 24 games over eight weekends in a round-robin format – a change from previous years in the league when schools played one common opponent twice each year. Tulane will face Cincinnati, Houston, ECU and Memphis at home, and USF, Wichita State, UConn and UCF on the road in conference play.
“We are excited about this schedule, which will provide both challenges and opportunity for our young team” Jewett said. “The non-conference series and midweek games will challenge and prepare us for our rigorous conference weekends. We will face outstanding competition this season, and our home schedule will provide some thrilling games our fans will enjoy.”
The Wave will face 2017 postseason teams Cal State Fullerton, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern Miss, Long Beach State, LSU and Texas Southern in non-conference action, as well as USF, Houston and UCF in conference play. Cal State Fullerton and LSU reached the CWS, while Long Beach State advanced to a Super Regional. In addition, 13 schools on the Green Wave schedule have played in the NCAA postseason within the last two years, including Wright State, Ole Miss, Louisiana-Lafayette and ECU.
The Green Wave open the season at home Feb. 16-18 against Wright State at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium. The Wave then travels to Ole Miss for a three-game set Feb. 24-26, and follows with 12 straight games in New Orleans.
Tulane faces Lamar (Feb. 27-28), Cal State Fullerton (March 2-4), SLU (March 7), Purdue (March 9-11), ULL (March 13) and Southern Miss (March 14) at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium during that stretch, and begins its three-game season series against crosstown rival UNO on March 6.
In 2018, Tulane and UNO will face off three times, as the Pelican Cup returns to the Crescent City. The Wave and Privateers will meet March 6 on the lakefront, and April 3 and 10 on the uptown campus.
The Green Wave travel to southern California for a series at Long Beach State, March 16-18, then faces LSU in Baton Rouge on March 21. The Tigers, national runner-up last season, play at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium on April 18.
Tulane opens conference play March 23-25 at home against Cincinnati, before a midweek game at SLU (March 27) and two straight road weekends at USF (March 29-31) and Wichita State (April 6-8). The Wave then step out of conference play for a home series against East Tennessee State, April 20-22, followed by a midweek matchup against defending SWAC champion Texas Southern on April 24.
The Wave make a road trip to UConn (April 27-29) to conclude April, then returns the visit to Southern Miss on May 1. Tulane plays two straight home series against ECU (May 4-6) and Memphis (May 11-13), before closing the season at ULL (May 15) and UCF (May 17-19).
The American Athletic Conference Championship will be held May 22-27 in Clearwater, Fla.
