POUGHKEEPSIE, New York — The Marist baseball team and ninth year head coach Chris Tracz have announced the team’s 2018 season schedule.
The Red Foxes will play three conference champions from 2017 and one conference runner up in a 13 team non-conference schedule. Marist also looks to defend its 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship in the traditional eight series conference schedule as well.
The Red Foxes will open the season at Furman (2/16-18) before traveling to reigning Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State (2/23-25). The matchup with the Cowboys marks the second straight season Marist will play a reigning Power 5 Conference Champion (2017 — Mississippi State – SEC).
Following their trip to Stillwater, the Red Foxes will then play series at UNC Greensboro (3/2-4), at Wofford (3/10-12) and at Towson (3/16-18).
Marist returns to McCann Field for its 2018 home opener vs NJIT on March 20 and opens Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play vs Monmouth March 24-25. The Red Foxes will then hit the road for matchups at UMass Lowell (3/28) and Siena (3/30-31) to wrap up play in March.
April begins with non-conference road series vs Albany (4/3) and at Richmond (4/6-8), before Marist returns home for series against Hartford (4/11), Niagara (4/14-15) and Binghamton (4/17). After traveling to Iona (4/21-22) for a rematch of the 2017 MAAC Championship series, the Red Foxes will compete in the 13th Annual Hudson Valley Baseball Classic vs Army West Point at Dutchess Stadium (Fishkill, NY) on April 25 and then return to McCann Field for a matchup with Fairfield (4/28-29).
The month of May sees Marist alternate home and away series, as they welcome Holy Cross (5/2) to McCann Field, travel to Manhattan (5/5-6), host Quinnipiac (5/12-13) and then wrap up the regular season at Canisius (5/17-18).
The Red Foxes are coming off a 2017 season that saw the team win 32 games, claim its first MAAC Championship since 2009 and advance to the NCAA Regionals for the seventh time in program history. Marist competed in the Gainesville Regional in the NCAA Tournament and trailed eventual National Champion Florida by one run heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. The Red Foxes finished the season with an overall record of 32-23, the best since 2011 and had one All-ECAC selection, three All-MAAC selections, four MAAC All-Tournament Team selections, the MAAC Tournament MVP, the MAAC Pitcher of the Year and one Major League Baseball Draft selection.
