TROY, Ala. – Featuring home series against Tulane and Central Florida and a home date with Alabama, the Troy baseball program released its 2021 schedule Tuesday. The Trojans’ slate features 30 overall home games and mid-week road tilts at Alabama and Florida State.
“The 2021 schedule has been in place for some time but with so much uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the decision to wait until closer to the start of the season to make this announcement seemed more appropriate,” head coach Mark Smartt said. “Everyone involved in college baseball has a strong desire to play a complete 2021 season, but we have learned from sports that are playing now, we must show patience, flexibility and coordination to play.”
The Trojans open the 2021 campaign with a four-game series against Youngstown State at Riddle-Pace Field (Feb. 19-21). Troy is 16-4 on Opening Weekend since Smartt took over the program in 2016.
The home-and-home series with Alabama (March 3 & March 16) and tilt at Florida State (March 10) highlight the Trojans’ mid-week schedule while Troy’s non-conference home slate includes three-game series against Tulane (March 12-14) and Central Florida (March 26-28). The Trojans also have a road series at Southeastern Louisiana (March 5-7) on the schedule.
The Sun Belt Conference has reduced the number of conference weekends from 10 to eight in 2021, opening two additional weekends for teams to schedule non-conference series. Troy’s home conference schedule includes series against Georgia Southern (March 19-21), Texas State (April 9-11), Appalachian State (April 23-25) and Arkansas State (May 14-16).
Troy will hit the road for four conference series this season beginning at South Alabama (April 1-3) and Georgia State (April 16-18). A difficult stretch looms for the Trojans in May with road series at Coastal Carolina (May 7-9) and Louisiana (May 20-22).
“Our staff and players understand the sincere challenges the strict COVID-19 testing and safety protocols present, but we remain committed and optimistic about the 2021 college baseball season which will start 346 days after our last game in 2020,” Smartt said. “I am confident our players are excited and will be thankful for the opportunities available in 2021.”
Troy currently has an open weekend April 30-May 2 and the staff is actively looking for an opponent to fill it. The 2021 schedule is subject to change in accordance with Sun Belt and NCAA guidelines as the season draws nearer.
Quotable – Head Coach Mark Smartt
“The Sun Belt Conference and the coaches in the league share optimism the season will begin in February. It is highly likely this schedule will be altered, in fact, we have one non-conference series that’s been cancelled due to COVID-19. Coach (Shane) Gierke, who is in charge of non-conference scheduling, is actively seeking an opponent for that scheduling void.
“The 2021 college baseball season is set up to be one of the most competitive and exciting seasons in its history. In my experience as a coach, the more experienced teams handle the adversity of a season better than less experienced teams and will usually challenge to win the league. For example, our team lost a small group of players from our interrupted 2020 season; however, every team in the country returns a high number of experienced players. Those returning players that would have graduated or signed with a professional organization are now on the field alongside the team’s full recruiting class which creates a deep and talented roster. That level of talent and experience improves college baseball and creates more competition.”
