Coming off its best season since returning to competition in 2010, the Seattle University baseball team has finalized its 2016 schedule, featuring 28 home games, including games against schools from the Pac-12, Big Ten, West Coast, and Mid-American conferences.
Seattle U opens the season with a four-game weekend series at Saint Mary’s College Feb. 19-21, and then the Redhawks open the home schedule at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue with a four-game set against Bowling Green Feb. 26-28. After a midweek game at Portland March 1, Seattle U welcomes Oakland University from the Horizon League for a four-game series March 4-6.
After going back to Portland for another game against the Pilots March 8, Seattle U hosts Minnesota for four games, starting with a weekend series March 11-13 and concluding with a midweek contest March 16. The final non-conference weekend series for the Redhawks takes them to Irvine, Calif., to face the UC Irvine Anteaters March 18-20.
The Oregon Ducks will be the first of three Pac-12 schools to visit Bannerwood Park Tuesday, March 22. Seattle U opens Western Athletic Conference play the same way it ended the 2015 WAC Tournament, facing the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in three straight games March 24-26, and then the Redhawks host the Portland Pilots Tuesday, March 29.
Seattle U hits the road for back-to-back weekends, first taking on Chicago State April 1-3 before heading to Grand Forks, N.D., to face North Dakota April 8-10. After a quick trip to Husky Ballpark to face Washington Tuesday, April 12, the Redhawks host defending WAC regular season champion Grand Canyon at Bannerwood Park April 15-17.
The Redhawks host the Washington Huskies Tuesday, April 19, before traveling to Orem, Utah, to take on the Utah Valley Wolverines April 22-24. A final game against Washington at Husky Ballpark April 26 precedes a home series against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros April 29-May 1.
Seattle U heads south to battle the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis, Ore., May 3, and then the Redhawks travel to Las Cruces, N.M., for a conference series against New Mexico State May 6-8. The Redhawks play their final four home games, starting with a midweek contest against Washington State May 10, followed by a three-game series against Northern Colorado May 13-15.
The regular season concludes for the Redhawks with a trip to face Sacramento State May 19-21. The top six eligible teams in the final standings will head to Mesa, Ariz., for the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, once again taking place at Hohokam Stadium May 25-29, with the winner of the tournament receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The Seattle University baseball team won a school-record 31 games in 2015, including a 19-8 record within the Western Athletic Conference. The Redhawks won their first two games in the WAC Tournament to advance to the championship round, also earning their first postseason victories in program history.