MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Middle Tennessee baseball team will face a challenging schedule that features 10 games against NCAA Tournament teams, as well as, 28 games at Reese Smith Jr. Field, Head Coach Jim Toman has announced.
Among the NCAA Tournament teams on the 2019 docket are C-USA foes Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss, as well as in-state foes Tennessee Tech and Vanderbilt.
“Traditionally, MTSU has always played a tough schedule and I am sure our guys will be excited to play each opponent,” Toman said. “The schedule should provide us with a very good RPI if we win enough games.”
Middle Tennessee fans will be able to see their Blue Raiders early and often, as the first seven games of the season will take place in Murfreesboro. Bowling Green will head south to Murfreesboro for a three-game series, with the home opener slated for Feb. 15.
The team will be back for the annual Mule Mix Classic, as the Blue Raiders are set to host Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, and Bradley, beginning on Feb. 21.
Perhaps the toughest stretch comes just two weeks into the season, when the Blue Raiders travel to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers for a midweek matchup on Feb. 27, and then will head west to take on Memphis for a three-game series the following weekend.
After a mid-week game at home against Belmont, the Blue Raiders head to Lexington, Ky., on March 8 for three games to take on Kentucky for the first time since 2011. The Blue Raiders lead the all-time series 11-10, and currently hold a three-game winning streak over the Wildcats.
Conference USA again stands to be one of the toughest baseball conferences in the country, after sending two teams to an NCAA regional last season for the second straight year.
“Conference USA is one of the very best conferences in the RPI each year so we will have our hands full in every conference game,” Toman said. “If we want to reach the postseason we will have to be ready to play extremely hard and with energy every weekend.”
Middle Tennessee will host conference foes Louisiana Tech (March 22-24), WKU (April 5-7), UAB (April 12-14) and Southern Miss (April 26-28). The Blue Raiders will also play host to FIU (May 10-12), marking the first regular season series between the two since 2014.
After winning four of five conference road series’ last season, the Blue Raiders begin C-USA play on the road at UTSA (March 15-17), then at Marshall (March 29-31), at Rice (April 19-21), at Charlotte (May 3-5), and will finish the season at FAU (May 16-18).
The C-USA Tournament will again take place at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss. on May 22-26.
2019 SCHEDULE NOTES
Key Stretch
Two conference series’ that could be a turning point for Middle Tennessee are the back-to-back home series versus WKU and UAB. The Blue Raiders took two-of-three from both teams last season on the road.
Familiar Foes
MT will play two games versus former OVC rival Murray State. The Racers travel to Murfreesboro for a midweek game on April 2, and Murray State will play host to the Blue Raiders on April 10.
Strong Finish
The Blue Raiders will be faced with a tough test to finish the 2019 campaign, hosting FIU for the final home series of the season, and then a mid-week game at Vanderbilt, before finishing the season at FAU, which was the runner-up of the 2018 C-USA Tournament. Both Vanderbilt and FAU were at-large bids in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
