SAN ANTONIO -- UTSA baseball will host 32 home games at Roadrunner Field as part of its 2019 schedule, announced on Thursday by Coach Jason Marshall.
"If we are ever going to achieve some of the big goals in college baseball our players need to play in great venues against great teams and 2019 provides that," Marshall said. "Competing well against this type of schedule is no doubt a challenge but it's something I think our best teams have thrived on. This current team sees our schedule as an opportunity to take a step forward in the program."
UTSA will host 32 home games and play 23 times on the road, including a 30-game Conference USA slate that includes 15 home and road games.
UTSA opens the year with Southland Conference power McNeese State at Roadrunner Field Feb. 15-17. A season-opening and season-long, seven-game homestand continues with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in UTSA's first midweek test, before welcoming Dartmouth for a four-game series Feb. 22-24, which features a doubleheader on Saturday.
UTSA's first road test will come at Texas on Feb. 27 on the Longhorn Network at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, before hosting Bradley in a three-game series (March 1-3) and Texas State in a midweek tilt (March 5).
The Roadrunners will venture to face Auburn at Plainsman Park in a three-game set (March 8-10), before wrapping up the non-conference portion of the schedule on Tuesday, March 12 at Houston.
UTSA kicks off the conference slate with a home weekend vs. Middle Tennessee State (March 15-17), taking on Houston Baptist in the Bayou City on March 1, before facing Rice in a road league test (March 22-24). A midweek test with Missouri at the Roadrunner Field on March 26 will lead into a three-game set vs. Southern Miss (March 29-31).
April opens with a midweek tilt at Texas State (April 2), before the Runners travel to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech (April 5-7). UTSA will host Lamar in a four-game week, starting on April 9, before welcoming Old Dominion for a three-game set (April 12-14).
A Tuesday trip to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 16) starts a four-game road swing, including a three-game set at UAB (April 18-20). UTSA will host Houston Baptist (23), before welcoming the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky (April 26-28). UTSA will wrap up a three-game midweek series with Texas State in San Marcos on April 30, before venturing to Marshall for a weekend series (April 26-28). The final non-conference home game of the year comes vs. UIW on May 7, before the home slate concludes with a series vs. FAU (May 10-12).
The regular-season schedule will finish with UTSA at Charlotte (May 16-18), before traveling to Biloxi, Miss., for the Conference USA Baseball Championships.
The NCAA Tournament will kickoff on June 1-4 with the regional round on 16 campus sites, with NCAA Super Regionals June 6-10 on eight campus sites with the College World Series June 15-26.
Coming off a 32-24 season in 2018, the Roadrunners return a bevy of talent for 2019, including veteran position starters in Bryan Arias, Joshua Lamb, Dylan Rock and Ryan Stacy. Karan Patel returns in the weekend rotation, with relief veterans Bradley Griggs, Palmer Wenzel and Kyrell Miller helping anchor the bullpen.
Marshall on 2019 schedule …
"We are very fortunate in San Antonio, Texas, to get some early home games that allow our fans to get a great look at the team early in the season. The nonconference games that stick out to our fans are games at Texas, Houston, a three-game weekend at Auburn, and at home vs. Missouri. These are incredible opportunities for our players and program to showcase our baseball program at UTSA and to help elevate C-USA as a top baseball league.
"If you are a college baseball fan in general or UTSA Baseball specifically, this schedule has a lot of reasons to get you fired up. There are 32 home games for our local fans and students. There are five teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2018 and a CU-SA slate of games that always provide one of the best tests in college baseball. It won't be easy but the goal is to play well enough to be an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. That means you have to play consistently well throughout the course of the season. The best teams in our league have found a way to accomplish that feat and we want to join those ranks.
"It's an honor to play in a conference that will have three and sometimes four representatives in the NCAA tournament and it gives you a lot to play for down the stretch at tourney time. But, that next step is a tough one. It's putting yourself in the conversation among the top 40-50 teams in the country and those margins are super slim. It takes good baseball players who are tough young men. It takes staying healthy for much of the season with your core group. It takes improvement over the course of a season. It takes a resilient mindset that can move on quickly after defeat. It takes a handful of wins in moments that might not have been expected or just came because you didn't give in during pivotal moments of a baseball game. And, crazy as it might sound it takes a few good bounces and breaks to go your way. That 30+ wins season has to turn into the 35 to 40.
"It's not tough in San Antonio, Texas to put together a top-50 schedule but this particular schedule really has some unique tests for our baseball program. At Texas, at Houston, at Auburn for three games and vs. Missouri at home are four non-conference opponents that will be among the best in college baseball. Stack them with many other quality weekdays and weekends and what is provided is an opportunity to elevate UTSA baseball and move our program forward.
"Since moving from the Southland and the WAC, one thing that sets C-USA apart most years, is the RPI value of your weekends. It's like standing on each other's shoulders in the league and working as a group to get three-four teams in the NCAA Tournament at years end. Doing this takes quality scheduling and significant out-of-conference wins. We think our schedule in 2019 provides an opportunity for UTSA and C-USA to take a step forward."
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