PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Oct. 17, 2019) – Under the direction of head coach Steve Owens, Rutgers baseball released its 2020 schedule Thursday. The slate includes 55 games with 21 at Bainton Field and 24 inside the Big Ten.
The Scarlet Knights will play the first five weekends against non-conference competition on the road with series at Miami, North Florida and Old Dominion in addition to neutral sets versus Washington State (Peoria, Ariz.) and Army (Fort Myers, Fla.). Opening Day at Miami on Feb. 14 will mark the 11th time in 12 seasons RU starts in Coral Gables.
“We will be playing a lot of good teams on the weekends early on,” Owens said. “There are no breaks in there and we will have to play really great baseball to earn wins. I like the mixture of opponents from different parts of the country and different conferences. That will prepare us for Big Ten play.”
The Big Ten schedule begins on the road on March 20 versus Ohio State. Rutgers will also travel to Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern for league weekends. The four home conference series will be against Maryland, Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.
“I know the Big Ten has very skilled and high-level opponents with quality pitching and athletic position players,” Owens said. “There are 24 conferences games and all are critical with the top eight teams making the conference tournament. I feel good about our club right now and the work they’re doing. I am confident we will be prepared when the season starts and the first 18-20 games will have us ready to compete right away in the conference. I like that the league schedule alternates home and away to balance out the travel after being on the road to start the season.”
The Big Ten Tournament is set for May 20-24 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.
The home opener on the new turf at Bainton Field is scheduled for Feb. 25 versus Wagner, which would be the earliest home game in program history. The Scarlet Knights’ conference bye is the second-to-last weekend of the season and will be in Piscataway against Villanova to make it five home weekends in 2020.
“The schedule is very challenging across the board every weekend and there are some good midweek games where hopefully we can play at home more often than not,” Owens said. “Every single game will be treated the same whether we are playing Miami on the first weekend or Illinois on the last weekend. We want to play well and win each time out, conference or non-conference.”
