COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M Baseball has released its 2018 schedule, a total of 56 games with 36 at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park.
“We have laid out a demanding schedule for 2018,” Texas A&M head coach Rob Childress said. “You run out of ways to talk about how tough the SEC is and when you add in the challenging non-conference slate we’ll face, I think the 12th Man will get to see some great games at home and on the road. By the time the postseason rolls around, we will certainly be battle tested.”
The Aggies will face 11 different opponents who made the 2017 NCAA Championship for a total of 23 games, including Arkansas (3), Auburn (3), Florida (3), LSU (3), Mississippi State (3), Long Beach State (3), Baylor, Houston, Rice, Sam Houston State and Texas.
Forty of Texas A&M’s games will be against teams that finished in the top 100 of the final RPI rankings of 2017, including 18 games against teams which finished in the RPI top 25. Florida and LSU both advanced to the College World Series along with the Aggies.
“Once again we have a great schedule for the games at Blue Bell Park,” Childress said. “The conference opponents coming include a pair of College World Series teams in Florida and LSU. The recent series we’ve had against Ole Miss and South Carolina have been outstanding, hard-fought battles. We also have three games against Long Beach State who was one game away from the College World Series last year, as well as a midweek game against Texas that I’m sure our fans will have circled on the calendar.”
The season kicks off for Texas A&M when Rhode Island comes to town Feb. 16-18. The Aggies will be at home the entire month of February, also hosting Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 20), Cornell (Feb. 23-25), Houston Baptist (Feb. 27) and Incarnate Word (Feb. 28).
Texas A&M begins March action at the Frisco College Classic at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. The tournament field includes Baylor, California and Louisiana Tech.
“We’ve played Baylor and California at regionals in recent years,” Childress said. “So when you say ‘this tournament will have a regional feel’ it’s not a cliché.”
Before SEC play begins, the Maroon & White host Long Beach State for an intersectional weekend series that will draw national attention from March 9-11, along with midweek games against Northwestern State (March 6-7) and UT-Arlington (March 13).
The Aggies open the league ledger on the road at Auburn (March 16-18) and host Ole Miss the following weekend (March 23-25).
Other SEC foes coming to College Station include LSU (April 6-8), Alabama (April 13-15), Florida (May 4-6) and South Carolina (May 17-19).
Texas A&M travels to play conference series against Georgia (March 29-31), Tennessee (April 20-22), Mississippi State (April 27-29) and Arkansas (May 11-13).
The Aggies host midweek games against Houston (April 3), Texas (April 10), Texas State (17), Abilene Christian (April 24), Prairie View A&M (May 1) and Sam Houston State (May 15).
The Maroon & White travel twice for midweek games, against Rice (March 20) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (March 27).
Postseason play begins in Hoover, Ala., with the 2018 SEC Tournament held May 22-27.
The NCAA Championship begins with Regionals June 1-4, followed by Super Regionals June 8-11. The College World Series will be held June 16-27 in Omaha, Neb.
The Aggies look to return to Omaha after making their sixth CWS appearance in program history in 2017. Texas A&M finished the campaign with a 41-23 record, including a 16-14 mark in SEC play.
