Mississippi State Releases 2016 Baseball Schedule

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State head baseball coach John Cohen announced the Bulldogs’ 2016 schedule Tuesday morning. The 56-game slate features 30 games against teams which played in the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

Opening Day against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 19 is the first of 34 games inside the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field. Along with the Owls (Feb. 19-20), MSU’s 10-game homestand to open the 2016 campaign features contests against South Dakota State (Feb. 20-21), Memphis (Feb. 23), UMass-Lowell (Feb. 26-27), Nicholls State (Feb. 27-28) and Alcorn State (March 1).

Southeastern Conference action for MSU begins in March and is highlighted by four series against programs which advanced to Omaha this past June for the NCAA College World Series. The Bulldogs open conference play at Vanderbilt March 18-20, while also playing CWS teams Florida (April 8-10) and LSU (April 22-24) on the road. The regular season finale at home is May 19-21 against CWS participant Arkansas.

Other SEC series at home include Georgia (March 24-26), in-state rival Ole Miss (April 1-3), Texas A&M (April 15-17 for Super Bulldog Weekend) and Missouri (May 5-7). In addition to three-game road trips to play the Commodores, Gators and Tigers, MSU also travels to Alabama (April 28-30) and Auburn (May 13-15).

Highlighting MSU’s non-conference schedule is the 2016 Dodger Stadium Baseball Classic March 4-6 in Los Angeles. Cohen’s club opens up March 4 at UCLA, which earned the No. 1 national seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Diamond Dawgs then play at fellow NCAA tourney team Southern Cal the next day, before wrapping up its West Coast road trip with a neutral site game against Oklahoma March 6 at Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Other key non-conference battles include a three-game home series against 2015 NCAA Tournament participant Oregon March 11-13 and a midweek clash March 16 at Dudy Noble against an Oral Roberts squad which made the Big Dance this past summer.

For local fans not able to make it to The Dude, MSU will play three games outside of Starkville in its home state. State will host Southern Miss at Trustmark Park in Pearl March 29. Three weeks later, the Bulldogs travel to the brand-new MGM Park in Biloxi April 20 to face Louisiana-Monroe, before returning to Trustmark Park April 26 for the annual Governor’s Cup game versus Ole Miss.

2016 Schedule By The Numbers
56        Total Games
34        Games at Dudy Noble Field
30        Games vs. 2015 NCAA Tournament Participants
21        Games vs. Teams Which Finished 2015 with Top-25 RPI
18        True Road Games
4          Neutral Site Games
4          Series vs. 2015 NCAA College World Series Participants
4          SEC Series Which Run Thursday-Saturday
3          Doubleheaders at Dudy Noble Field