MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Baseball fans will have the opportunity to watch the Blue Raiders at home 31 times, in addition to seeing several foes who haven’t been on the docket in recent years, as evidenced by the Middle Tennessee schedule released by Head Coach Jim McGuire Tuesday.
McGuire and the Blue Raiders are eager to take on a difficult schedule that features 11 games against teams that appeared in the NCAA Tournament last season (Vanderbilt, Rice, Southern Miss and West Virginia).
“Our non-conference schedule might be as strong as it’s ever been and the most difficult it’s ever been,” said McGuire. “It’s exciting, we’re going to play five SEC games against Vandy, Tennessee and Alabama, and it’s the first time we’ve hosted a Big 12 team (West Virginia) at home.”
The Blue Raiders play host to West Virginia, March 9-11, before C-USA play begins the following weekend. It’s only the second match-up between the Mountaineers and Blue Raiders and the first since 1976.
Despite the bevy of competitive match-ups, the Blue Raiders will begin the challenging gauntlet with a series of games at the friendly confines of Reese Smith Jr., Field. They play seven of the first nine at home and only leave the state of Tennessee once in the first 17 games. Those two non-conference dates are at Alabama (Feb. 20) and Tennessee (Feb. 27). It will mark the first time the Blue Raiders have played the Crimson Tide since 1999.
Within those 17 games, Middle Tennessee will play host and guest in two separate tournaments. The Mule Mix Classic (Feb. 23-25) will be held at Reese Smith Jr. Field and will feature out of conference contests against Fairleigh Dickinson (Feb. 23), Indiana State (Feb. 24) and Kent State (Feb. 25).
The Blue Raiders will follow that up with the Tri-State Classic, a tournament played in the Tennessee Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn. The Blue Raiders will be competing for bragging rights within the state as they play Memphis, ETSU and Tennessee.
“Both (tournaments) are great RPI weekends, you’re playing six different teams in two weekends.” McGuire added “It’ll give us a chance to see some different opponents to see how we stack up against them, but also give us new opportunities to see what we can do in a one game showdown.”
However, once conference play begins, the Blue Raiders will firmly be in the gauntlet. Conference USA stands to be one of the toughest baseball leagues in the country yet again in 2018. Last season, C-USA produced two tournament teams and in 2018 they could produce even more.
The Blue Raiders begin their conference schedule when they travel to rival Western Kentucky March 16-18. Some additional road trips include travel to last year’s conference champion and second-place team in Southern Miss. (April 20-22) and Old Dominion (March 30-April 1), respectively.
The Conference USA home series include Charlotte (March 23-25), Marshall (April 6-8), Rice (April 13-15), UTSA (April 27-29) and FAU (May 11-13).
“Obviously in Conference USA you’re going to have some of the same teams at the top with Southern Miss., Rice, FAU and now Old Dominion in the mix, but every weekend in this conference is tough,” said McGuire. “That’s what people don’t realize, there’s no easy weekends in Conference USA, and you have to bring your best.”
At the conclusion of the regular season, the C-USA Tournament will take place on May 23-27 in Biloxi, Miss.
2017 Schedule Notes:
POWER-5 OPPONENTS
-Middle Tennessee will play eight games against four Power-5 opponents. This includes mid-week contests against Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Alabama on top of a weekend series hosting West Virginia.
HOMESTAND
-Of the first 18 games, the Blue Raiders will only leave the state of Tennessee once to travel to Alabama. Of the first 18 games, 12 are at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
IN-STATE FOES
-Middle Tennessee plays 16 games against opponents from the state of Tennessee. This includes series match-ups with Tennessee Tech (Feb. 28 & April 11), Memphis (March 6-7), Lipscomb (March 20 & April 17), Austin Peay (March 13 & April 24), Belmont (March 27 & April 10) and Vanderbilt (April 3 & May 15). The Blue Raiders will also play Memphis, ETSU and Tennessee in the Tri-State Classic.
CONFERENCE GAUNTLET
-Middle Tennessee will play all five of the top five teams in the 2017 Conference-USA regular season standings (Southern Miss., ODU, FAU, Charlotte and LA Tech). This includes road contests at Southern Miss, ODU and LA Tech.
