2016 Baseball Schedule Loaded With Strong Foes

Baseball Coach Pete Dunn
Baseball Coach Pete Dunn. Jim Hogue Photos.

A total of seven teams who advanced to the 2015 NCAA Baseball Tournament highlight the 2016 Stetson University baseball schedule.

The Hatters will square off with a trio of teams that were No. 1 seeds last year, plus four other NCAA Tournament teams, as part of a schedule that features 34 home games at Melching Field. That home schedule features the return of the Hatters’ tournament on the third weekend of the season.

“I think it is a very demanding schedule,” Hatters head coach Pete Dunn said. “We have some very good teams coming in early, including opening up with Delaware. We also play our friendly rivals to the east, Bethune-Cookman, early. We need to get a little payback on Creighton from last year, and they are always good. The tournament will be very competitive – Illinois has a really good team.”

The Hatters will open the season Feb. 19-21 with a three-game series against Delaware from the Colonial Athletic Association. The Blue Hens finished 2015 with a 26-23 record, one of 15 2016 opponents who finished with at least a .500 record last year. Delaware’s season included a win over the College of Charleston, which finished ranked 15th in RBI last year.

Stetson will also host Siena from the MAAC the first week of the season before entertaining Creighton the weekend of Feb. 26-28. The Blue Jays finished with a 32-19 overall record last year in their first season in the Big East. That mark included a sweep of the Hatters in Omaha.

After a game at Bethune-Cookman, the Hatters will host the Westin Lake Mary Stetson Invitational the weekend of March 4-6. In addition to an Illinois team that went 49-10-1 last year and hosted an NCAA Regional as a No. 1 seed, the tournament will feature teams from Central Michigan and Villanova.

After the tournament, the Hatters will go on the road for consecutive games against NCAA Tournament teams when they travel to face FIU, champions of the Conference USA tournament, and Miami on consecutive days.

“Our philosophy is to play very good teams early in the year, and we will certainly have a chance to do that this spring,” Dunn said. “That Miami trip will be a real test against a pair of NCAA teams in back-to-back days.”

Before the start of conference play in April, the Hatters will host weekend series against Maine, Winthrop and The Citadel, and will travel to face Coastal Carolina for three games. The Winthrop series will see the return of former Stetson players and coaches Tom Riginos and Clint Chrysler.

Riginos played at Stetson from 1987-90 and then served on Dunn’s coaching staff from 1994-2002. Chrysler was one of the first recruits Riginos helped sign at Stetson in 1994 and he was a two-way player for three years for the Hatters before being drafted. Riginos is the head coach at Winthrop and Chrysler serves as his pitching coach.

“It will be fun to have TR and Clint back here for that weekend,” Dunn said. “It will be a homecoming for them and I know they will be excited to bring their club down.”

In addition to those weekend series, the Hatters will host midweek games against Dartmouth, Bethune-Cookman, South Florida and Florida State during the year.

The home Atlantic Sun Conference slate includes series against USC Upstate, Jacksonville and Lipscomb.

“We have to open conference play with back-to-back weekends on the road at Gulf Coast and North Florida,” Dunn said. This is the year when we play one more road series in conference play than we do home series.”

Dunn said he expects the league race to be wide open.

“I think Lipscomb is going to be very good,” Dunn said. “I know North Florida lost a lot, but they will still be good. I believe Gulf Coast lost some pitching over the summer that they didn’t anticipate, but I am sure Dave (Tolett) will have them ready to play as well. They are going to be a good offensive team. JU has the conference pitcher of the year coming back and Kennesaw is always very good. It is going to be tough.”

Like most teams, the Hatters have some holes to fill going into the new season, but fall practice gave the indication that some of the newest members of the squad may be ready to contribute right away.

“I think we have the pitching to play this schedule,” Dunn said. We have some guys coming back who were big parts of the rotation last year with Brooks Wilson and Mitchell Jordan, but we also have four really good freshman arms in Logan Gilbert, Jack Perkins, Joey Gonzalez and Erik Wiebke. Those guys will really help us this year.”

Stetson fans can get a close up look at the Hatters on February 8 at the annual Dick Westervelt First Pitch Banquet. The banquet will be followed by the annual Chipper Jones Gala and Golf Tournament on February 18-19 before the season-opener against Delaware on the evening of Feb. 19.

Season tickets for the 2016 campaign, including various mini packages, are available through the Stetson Athletics Ticket office or by visiting GoHatters.com/tix. Season packages start for as little as $75 per seat for general admission. Call 386-738-HATS (4287) or e-mail [email protected] for more information.

GOHATTERS.COM