ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After winning a share of its fourth-straight Patriot League regular-season title, the Navy baseball program announced its 53-game schedule for the upcoming 2019 campaign. Following a 38-16 mark in 2018, head coach Paul Kostacopoulos beings his 14th season at the helm of the program.
The Midshipmen start their 2019 season on the road in Boiling Springs, N.C. with a three-game series at Gardner-Webb from Feb. 15-17. This marks the second-straight season that Navy will begin its season against the Bulldogs and the fifth-straight campaign the Mids open in the state of North Carolina.
Navy starts its home schedule on Wednesday, Feb. 20 against Delaware State. The mid-February meeting between the Midshipmen and the Hornets will be the first of two contests in 2019.
After the home opener, Navy returns to North Carolina for the Freedom Classic in Kinston, N.C. The ninth-annual event will pit a pair of service academies head-to-head as the Midshipmen take on rival Air Force from Feb. 22-24 in a three-game set. Last season at the Freedom Classic, the Midshipmen took two of the three games against the Falcons.
To cap off the month of February, Navy begins a four-game homestand against Coppin State on Feb. 27 for one of its first two meetings with the Eagles at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
March begins with the Midshipmen hosting Central Connecticut State for a pair of games on March 1 and 3 while taking on UMass at home on March 2. The Mids and Blue Devils last squared off in 2017 when Navy took two games at home from Central Connecticut State, 7-3 and 11-6. Navy and UMass have only faced off twice with Navy winning both times, once in 2009 and then again in 2011.
The Midshipmen hit the road and take on Delaware State on March 5 to complete their home-and-home series against the Hornets. Navy then returns home against UMBC on March 6 to start a home-and-home season series with the Retrievers.
The final home non-league weekend series of the season for the Midshipmen comes on March 9-10 as they host Cornell for two games on Saturday and a game on Sunday.
A quick home-and-home series for Navy is on tap for March 12-13 against Villanova. The two programs will play in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., on March 12 before the two teams return to Annapolis on March 13.
Patriot League competition gets underway on March 16 as Navy welcomes Bucknell to Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The opening league series will be a four-game set with two games on March 16 and two more games on March 17. Last season, Navy won four of the five games against the Bison including a 6-4 victory in the lone matchup in Annapolis.
Navy wraps up its longest homestand of the season on March 20 against Mount St. Mary’s, before it takes off for its longest road stretch of the season.
The Midshipmen begin their eight-game road swing on March 23 against Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Navy then heads to West Point, N.Y. to take on rival Army for the first of five meetings in 2019. The Midshipmen then travel to Georgetown on March 27 for a mid-week battle against Georgetown.
Navy finishes March with the final three games of its road trip with a three-game series against Lafayette in Easton, Pa. Last season, the Midshipmen won all five matchups against the Leopards.
To start the month of April, Navy finishes a two-game season series with Coppin State at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium on April 2. The Midshipmen then follow with the conclusion of their home-and-home series at UMBC on April 3.
Navy finishes its season series with Holy Cross on April 6-7 with a three-game series in Annapolis.
The Midshipmen conclude their home-and-home series with Mount St. Mary’s on April 10 in Emmitsburg, Md., before traveling to Bethlehem, Pa., for a three-game series with Lehigh on April 13-14.
A pair of mid-week games are on tap for Navy on April 16 and 17 as it hosts Georgetown on Tuesday, April 16 and then caps off its five-game season series with Bucknell on Wednesday, April 17 in Lewisburg, Pa.
The weekend Star Series between Army and Navy returns to Annapolis on April 20-21. A doubleheader is on tap for April 20, before the final game of the series is set for Sunday, April 21. The third game of the series is slated to be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, which will be the lone Patriot League baseball contest broadcast on CBS Sports Network this season.
Navy concludes its mid-week slate on April 24 on the road at George Mason. The mid-week battle will be the first meeting between two teams in Fairfax, Va., since the 2016 season when the Midshipmen earned a 13-9 road win.
The Patriot League regular season comes to a close during the final weekend of April. Navy hosts a doubleheader against Lehigh on April 27 and then it takes on Lafayette for a twin bill on April 28 to finish out the Patriot League slate at home.
The final week of the regular season features Navy traveling to Farmville, Va., for a three-game series against Longwood to conclude the 2019 regular season.
The Patriot League Semifinals are scheduled to begin the weekend of May 10-13. The conference’s top four teams qualify for the tournament, with the top two seeds hosting the lower two seeds in a best-of-three semifinal series. The two advancing teams will meet at the higher remaining seed on May 18-20 in a best-of-three championship series.
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