Hempstead, NY – Four 2018 NCAA Tournament teams highlight the 2019 Hofstra University Baseball schedule, which was released today by Head Coach John Russo. The Pride will face NCAA participants St. John’s, LIU Brooklyn, UNCW and Northeastern as part of their upcoming slate.
“I am very excited about our 2019 schedule as I believe it will give us a very honest assessment of our team,” said Russo. “We have a lot of players stepping into new roles, as well as some new faces so my goal was to put together a schedule that would challenge us but also allow us to compete.”
The season gets underway with a four-game series in San Antonio, Texas, against Incarnate Word on February 15-17. The Cardinals were 29-26 last season. The Pride then returns to the Northeast and will open at home, the first of 16 scheduled games at University Field, against Iona on March 7. The Gaels were a 16-win team in 2018. Hofstra will also play Iona on March 9 at Fordham. The Pride will also play Fordham on the road on March 8 and March 10. The Rams are coming off a 35-19-1 campaign in 2018.
A three-game trip to Liberty (32-26) will take place March 15-17 before a three-game series at defending Big East champions and NCAA Regional participant St. John’s on March 22-24. The Red Storm was 40-17 in 2018. The Pride will also play home-and-home non-conference games against Monmouth (30-25), Northeast Conference champions and NCAA Tournament team LIU Brooklyn (31-26) and Manhattan (25-28). Hofstra is at Monmouth on March 26 and home on April 9. The Blackbirds of LIU Brooklyn come to Hempstead on April 3 with the return game in Brooklyn on May 7. The Pride hosts Manhattan on April 2 and travel to Wappingers Falls on April 23. The Pride will also play a non-conference game at Big 10 foe Rutgers (25-25) on April 17. Hofstra’s non-conference opponents had a combined record of 263-192-1 (.577) in 2018.
The Pride opens the Colonial Athletic Association schedule on March 29-31 at College of Charleston. The Cougars were 36-19 last season. A trip to Northeastern (36-21), which received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament last season, follows on April 5-7. The Pride then has two home weekends with Towson visiting April 12-14 and UNCW on April 19-21. The Tigers won 13 games in 2018 while the Seahawks are the defending CAA champions and an NCAA Tournament team that was 39-23 a season ago.
Hofstra then travels to James Madison (26-26) for a three-game series April 26-28 before returning home for a series against Elon (36-23) on May 3-5. The Pride visits Delaware (31-27) on May 10-13 before wrapping up the regular season with a series against a 15-win William & Mary squad on May 17-18. The teams will play a doubleheader on the 17th and a single game on the 18th.
The Colonial Athletic Association Championship will take place at James Madison from May 22-25 with the winner earning an automatic bid to NCAA Regionals.
Hofstra was 23-23 last season and advanced to the CAA Championship.
2019 Hofstra Baseball Schedule
