Five teams who made trips to the 2018 NCAA Tournament and four first-time opponents highlight the 2019 Stetson baseball schedule.
The Hatters, who are coming off the most successful season in program history, will open the 2019 season by hosting the first of two tournaments at Melching Field. Manhattan and Sam Houston State will actually get the season started with a game at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 15 to open the Inaugural RyCass Classic, before Stetson hosts Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.
Coming off a season in which Stetson tied a program record with 48 victories, including a new program mark with 18 consecutive wins, won the ASUN regular season and tournament titles and then hosted, and swept through, an NCAA Regional for the first time, expectations for the 2019 campaign are understandably high.
Stetson is scheduled to play 35 games at Melching Field before hosting the ASUN Championship for the 12th time as the facility opens its third decade as the home for the Hatters. The 2019 ASUN Championship will be played from May 22-25 in DeLand.
The 2019 Stetson schedule features many of the programs the Hatters see on an annual basis. Home-and-home series against UCF, South Florida, FIU, Bethune-Cookman and Florida State have been staples of the Stetson schedule for years.
First-time visitors to DeLand will include Sam Houston State, a Southland Conference program that posted a 39-20 record last spring and finished the year at No. 55 in the RPI rankings. The Bearkats have made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances in their history, including as recently as 2017.
Another first-time visitor to DeLand will be Saint Louis. The Billikens posted a 38-20 record last spring, winning the Atlantic 10 Conference regular season and tournament titles. They made their eighth NCAA Tournament appearance last spring, playing in the Oxford Regional.
Saint Louis will take part in the second tournament of the year, the annual Westin Lake Mary Invitational, at Melching Field, March 1-3. Other programs in town for that weekend will include Georgetown and Sacred Heart.
The Hatters will venture on the road to face another first-time foe, perennial College World Series contender Texas Tech. The Red Raiders advanced to Omaha for the third time in the last five years in 2018, finishing the year eighth in the RPI rankings, one spot behind Stetson. Tech finished 2018 with a 45-20 record, including a win over Florida in Omaha.
The Hatters and Red Raiders will play a pair of games on March 24-25 in Lubbock, Texas. Stetson will also play a single game that weekend against a Michigan squad that finished 2018 with a 33-20 record that included a 20-game win streak.
The final first-time opponent for Stetson is one of two new members of the ASUN – North Alabama. The Lions are making the move to Division I after posting a 31-20 record in their final season in Division II. UNA is all in on the move up in competition, playing an entirely Division I schedule, including five teams that advanced to NCAA Tournament play last spring.
The Hatters will make their first visit to Lane Field in Florence, Ala., the weekend of March 29-31 to open ASUN play for the year. Stetson will also travel to face the second new member of the league, Liberty, the weekend of April 26-28 in Lynchburg, Va. The Hatters hold a 2-0 series lead over the Flames, with the last meeting coming in 1991.
In addition to the in-state teams on the schedule, the Hatters will host non-conference games against Siena (Feb. 23-26), Maryland (March 8-10) and Yale (March 15-17). Stetson owns all-time series leads of 41-4 against the Saints, 5-3 against the Terrapins after dropping two of three in College Park last spring, and 16-14 over Yale.
After opening league play at UNA, the Hatters will host NJIT (April 5-7), Kennesaw State (April 18-20), FGCU (May 3-5) and North Florida (May 16-18). The other two league road series will be at Lipscomb (April 26-28) and at Jacksonville (May 10-12).
The 2019 NCAA Tournament is scheduled to begin with Regional play the weekend of May 31-June 2. Super Regionals are scheduled for June 7-9 and the 2019 College World Series is scheduled to begin on June 14 in Omaha, Neb.
Fans interested in reserving seats at Melching Field for the 2019 season can do so starting November 5. Fans who placed a deposit on 2019 season tickets will also be contacted at that time. Fans can also take advantage of discounted pricing by beating the Early-Bird deadline, which is Friday, December 14. Fans can also submit a ticket interest form HERE to be contacted once tickets go on sale.
Early Bird pricing for 2019 season tickets start at just $99 for general admission. Upper level chairback seats in sections 206-209 are $135 and lower level chairback seats in sections 104-108 are $195 each. After December 14, those prices will go to $150 for upper chairbacks and $205 for lower chairbacks.
Regular season ticket holders will have first priority for purchasing tickets to the 2019 ASUN Tournament as well as to any other post-season play.
2019 Stetson Baseball Schedule
