BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 2018 Lehigh baseball schedule will feature 51 regular season contests, including 14 contests at J. David Walker Field and 25 games against Patriot League opponents. The Mountain Hawks open the season on February 16 against Butler to begin a four-game stint in Wilmington, N.C. The Brown and White will play its first home game on newly renovated Walker Field on March 28 in a non-league matchup with Saint Peter’s.
Lehigh will face 20 different opponents this season, representing eight different conferences with three different NCAA postseason qualifiers (Davidson, Holy Cross and Yale). Four of Lehigh’s 2018 opponents finished in the top half of last season’s final RPI, including a Davidson team that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished the season ranked inside the top-25 in most national polls. Nine opponents finished with a winning record last season, including six teams that posted 30-win seasons.
The Mountain Hawks will spend their first three weeks of the season traveling back-and-forth to the state of North Carolina for a total of 10 games against five different opponents. From Feb. 16-18, Lehigh will participate in a four-game tournament hosted by UNC Wilmington, then travel to North Carolina A&T for a three-game series on Feb. 24-25 before finishing up with a three-game series at Davidson on March 2-4.
Lehigh has a midweek road trip at Coppin State on Mar. 7 before heading to the state of Virginia for eight games during spring break. LU has a four-game series at Norfolk State on Mar. 10-11, then travels to William & Mary for a single game on Mar. 14 before finishing the trip with a three-game tournament at Richmond.
The Patriot League has implemented a five-game series format for the 2018 regular season, expanding each team’s league slate to 25 games, an increase of five games from the previous format. Lehigh opens league play with a four-game weekend series at rival Lafayette on Mar. 24-25. The fifth game of the series will be played in a midweek matchup at Walker Field on April 18.
The Brown and White will host its first Patriot League series on Mar. 31-Arp. 1 with a three-game set against defending league champion Holy Cross. Lehigh closes out the regular season with four league games on the road, beginning with a doubleheader at Army West Point on May 5, followed by a doubleheader at Holy Cross on May 6.
Lehigh will once again compete in the Liberty Bell classic in 2018. The Mountain Hawks will travel to Rider on Mar. 27 for a first-round matchup before hosting an opponent to be determined later on Apr. 3 in the second round. The championship game is slated for Apr. 10 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
