NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a winning campaign a year ago, head coach Dave Jarvis and Belmont baseball are excited to announce a 2018 slate that boasts top competition Friday afternoon. The Bruins schedule is highlighted by opponents from nine different conferences.
Among the scheduled 55 games, Belmont will host 29 at E.S. Rose Park and will be on the road for the remaining 26 matchups. The Bruins will have a home-heavy start to the season with 15 of their first 16 games being at their home field.
BU will kickoff the 2018 campaign with a three-game home series against Youngstown State (Feb. 16-18) followed by a midweek matchup on the road at Western Kentucky (March 3). The Bruins will host their annual Mule Mix Challenge (Feb. 23-25) where they will host Kent State, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Indiana State over the three-day event. They will close out their 12-game homestand as they take on Lipscomb (March 13).
Later in March, Belmont will face perhaps its toughest competitor in Vanderbilt who competed in the NCAA tournament a season ago. The game (March 20) will be held at First Tennessee Park, home of the Nashville Sounds.
The Bruins will round out March with a four-game road stretch, playing a trio of games at conference foe SIUE (March 29-31) before heading to Knoxville for a mid-week contest against Tennessee.
11 of the Bruins’ 16 games in April will be on the road. Belmont will start one of two five-game road stretches at MTSU (April 10). After playing at EIU (April 13-5) and SIU (April 17), BU will return home for a series against Jacksonville State (April 20-22) before playing games at Lipscomb (April 24), Murray State (April 27-29) and Evansville (May 2).
Belmont will host reigning OVC Tournament Champion Tennessee Tech at E.S. Rose Park to kick of their last month of play (May 4-6). During May, Belmont will play at Memphis (May 8), round out conference play at Southeast Missouri (May 11-13), and host Evansville (May 15).
The Bruins will make the long trip to Evanston, Ill. for a three-game series against Northwestern (May 17-19) to finish regular-season play.
“I’m very pleased with our schedule and our non-conference opponents booked for this year,” said head coach Dave Jarvis. “I feel like it’s going to be a great opportunity to prepare our players for the OVC schedule.”
The OVC tournament is scheduled for May 22-26 in Oxford, Ala.
Each home game will be broadcasted on the OVC Digital Network.
Belmont returns All-OVC First Team honorees Matt Cogen (Franklin, Tenn.) and Dylan King (Murfreesboro, Tenn.).
