By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
2016 Golden Eagle Baseball Schedule
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Just five weeks separate the Tennessee Tech baseball team from officially reuniting with the dirt and grass for the start of the 2016 season, one that promises to be full of excitement and plenty of opportunities for great baseball.
With 55 games on tap for the Golden Eagles, including 29 in the friendly confines of Bush Stadium at the Averitt Express Baseball Complex, Tech looks poised to make a run to its fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance.
The Golden Eagles will see a lot of their home facility early in the season, opening the 2016 campaign with 10 of the first 13 contests in Cookeville. Kicking off the action is a three-game set in Bush Stadium as Tech plays host to Western Illinois of the Summit League starting Friday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. CST.
"We always try to get those early games at home," Bragga said of the early home slate, "because over the years, once you get into conference play, you're basically 50-50. Half of those are at home and the other half on the road. At that point, the midweek games have little chance of a northern team coming down because they are getting into their league play. That's typically when we play a lot of our in-state rivals in home-and-home series.
"In order for us to get the appropriate amount of home games that I think we need, we have no choice but to open up at home those first three non-conference weekends as much as we can," Bragga added. "That's why every year we typically try to get those nine weekend games at home. I think where we are at in the south, we need to have more than 50 percent of our games at home, so that's why we do that."
Included in those first three weekends of baseball in Bush Stadium are series with Bucknell and Miami (Ohio).
"In my 12 years here, we haven't played Western Illinois," Bragga explained, "so we're looking forward to hosting them to open the season. We've also never played Bucknell since I've been here. We did play Miami (Ohio) a couple of years ago in a midweek series and are looking forward to them coming down again for a weekend stretch. All three series offer us a good range of different conferences and gives those programs from up north an opportunity to come down and play in some [hopefully] nice weather."
Highlighting the Golden Eagle slate are contests at national runner-up Vanderbilt and fellow Southeastern Conference power Tennessee, not to mention home-and-home match-ups with in-state rivals Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee.
"Vanderbilt is always phenomenal and just a high-class program to go play," Bragga remarked. "Tim Corbin does an incredible job in the way he coaches and the way he treats people, both in and out of his program. We got a win down there a couple of years ago and we're just looking forward to going back again this season and fighting for another.
"We haven't really been able to play Tennessee in Knoxville much recently, just with snow and rain not cooperating with us too much in the past few years. Hopefully we can get that in and have the opportunity to play another SEC school. Those games are always a fun challenge for our program.
"It's great to have these in-state rivalries. Middle Tennessee had a heckuva season last year in Conference USA, particularly early in the season. Lipscomb has had some very good teams over the past few years as well and those match-ups have been a blast for our players and a great challenge overall for both sides."
The Tech squad will take on four opponents for the first time in program history in 2016, including a midweek series on the road at Central Arkansas, a three-game home set against Bucknell, a home-and-home slate against Kennesaw State and three-game road series at Little Rock.
"Coach [Allen] Gum does a wonderful job at Central Arkansas and has that program in a great place right now," Bragga said. "That will be a wonderful challenge on the road. The thinking with those games is that they get us on the road with an overnight trip without having to use a weekend to do it. It allows us to play a quality opponent and get us that road trip we need to have before we get into the grind of conference play.
"Kennesaw is an interesting match-up for us. They were just in a Super Regional in 2014 and are located in a great spot from a baseball perspective. They are in a baseball haven for recruiting and they've been able to take advantage of that and put together some very competitive teams, particularly recently. That will be a great home-and-home series for us that will be something new and different, giving us another fun twist to the season.
"Our bye week, in terms of not playing an OVC opponent, offers us a trip to face Little Rock, which is another team we've never played before. It's just exciting to take on a new challenge."
Other non-conference opponents on the 2016 schedule include Alabama A&M and UNC Asheville, both repeat tilts from last season. The Golden Eagles will kick off league play by making a trip north to take on the reigning OVC Tournament champions, Morehead State, starting Friday, March 11.
"Anytime you get into conference play, it's exciting," Bragga explained. "But opening up with the conference champion is an entertaining and exciting challenge. Southeast Missouri has won the regular season a couple of years in-a-row, so that will be a team that will likely be one of the favorites going into our league this year, and rightfully so.
"In the past two years, Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin all hired new coaches. It's always fun to see what new energy is brought into our league with new additions and makes those games interesting as we all get a feel for each other.
"It's a good league. We're anxious to get started, as everybody is. I think your favorites going into the year are probably SEMO and Morehead State because they won the championships last year."
The Golden Eagles will close out the 2016 regular season with a three-game series at home against Eastern Kentucky, running from Thursday, May 19 through Saturday, May 21.
"It's a fun slate and a good slate," Bragga said. "We're really excited because we a have group of young men that has worked very hard. It's a very new group too. We've got some guys back from injury and a ton of new blood. It's a group we feel could be pretty good and we're anxious to get out there and get going."
Photo by Tony Marable
