The Seattle University baseball team opened official full team practices last Friday, Jan. 24, in preparation for the start of the 2014 competition season in three weeks.
After opening practice under sunny skies Friday, the team traveled to Edmonds Community College on both Saturday and Sunday for intrasquad scrimmages. The 26-man roster includes six members of the starting lineup from 2013 as well as six pitchers who started 53 of the team's 54 games last season.
Besides a 27-game conference schedule, the Redhawks will be facing a tough non-conference slate, featuring a contest at preseason top-five school Oregon State as well two contests at Oregon, picked in the top 10 in several preseason polls. Seattle U also resumes rivalries against regional foes Washington, Washington State, Portland, and BYU.
Seattle U opens the 2014 season with a four-game series at UC Davis Feb. 14-16, the first of 13 consecutive road games to begin the season. The Redhawks open the home schedule at Bannerwood Park with a three-game series against Cal Poly March 7-9, followed by a two-game midweek series against Portland March 11-12. Seattle U needs to finish in the top six of the league standings in order to advance to the WAC Baseball Tournament in Mesa, Ariz., May 21-25.