Upstate Baseball Announces 2014 Schedule
11/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Spartanburg, S.C. – Following a season that resulted in the most successful and deepest Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament run in school history, the USC Upstate baseball program and head coach Matt Fincher have announced the schedule for the 2014 season.
Upstate will play 31 games inside the friendly confines of Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park, which includes a challenging non-conference slate of games that features Kentucky (Feb. 17), Pittsburg (Feb. 22) and a three-game series with NCAA Regional participant Bryant (Feb. 28 – Mar. 2). Overall, the Spartans will face four teams that played in an NCAA Regional.
"We have a very challenging schedule, but the good news is that we basically play at home the first month, and I am hopeful we can get off to a competitive start," Fincher. "As always, the A-Sun will be strong this spring, and we are looking forward to seeing how we compare with the other team."
The Spartans open the season by hosting a round-robin tournament that will feature George Mason, Ball State, Morehead State and Dayton. Upstate begins play Feb. 14 with a 4 p.m. game with George Mason and follows that Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. against Ball State. The Spartans wrap up the event Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. by playing host to Dayton. Ball State plays Dayton Feb. 15 at noon, and George Mason and Morehead State will meet Feb. 16 at 11 a.m.
Upstate continues its season-opening eight-game homestand against Kentucky (Feb. 17), The Citadel (Feb. 18), Presbyterian (Feb. 21), Pittsburgh (Feb. 22) and Butler (Feb. 23) before playing its first road game of the season.
The Spartans will host both Bryant (Feb. 28 – Mar. 2) and La Salle (Mar. 7-9) for three-game series, and will also welcome UNC Asheville (Mar. 25), Gardner-Webb (Apr. 2), Winthrop (Apr. 8), College of Charleston (Apr. 9) and Charleston Southern (May 13) in non-conference home games.
Road games at Winthrop (Feb. 25), Furman (Mar. 4), Gardner-Webb (Mar. 5), Charleston Southern (Mar. 11), The Citadel (Mar. 12), Wofford (Mar. 18), Charlotte (Apr. 1), UNC Asheville (Apr. 15), South Carolina (Apr. 23) and College of Charleston (May 7) conclude a challenging non-conference slate of games.
Upstate opens conference play on the road with a three-game series at North Florida (Mar. 14-16) and will also battle A-Sun foes Mercer (Apr. 4-6), Northern Kentucky (Apr. 11-13), ETSU (May 2-4) and Stetson (May 15-17) away from Haley Park.
The Spartans will host Florida Gulf Coast (Mar. 21-23), Lipscomb (Mar. 28-30), Kennesaw State (Apr. 17-19) and Jacksonville (May 9-11) in A-Sun Conference action.
"We are very young this year and will play freshmen in important roles," Fincher said. "My expectation is that they develop over the course of the spring and mature as a group. We do have a few older players who have experience and we will need them to lead both on and off the field. We most certainly will be a work in progress, but I have reason to believe that we will improve daily."
The 2014 A-Sun Conference Tournament is scheduled for May 21-25 from Florida Gulf Coast's Swanson Stadium.
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