INDIANAPOLIS – The 2018 Butler baseball season will get underway on Friday, Feb. 16 this year when the Bulldogs travel to Wilmington, North Carolina for tournament action. Head Coach Dave Schrage unveiled the upcoming slate on Monday morning, showcasing a schedule that includes 24 home games and a full three-game road series at Indiana.
Opening weekend will feature Butler playing two games against Lehigh followed by single games against UNC-Wilmington and Eastern Kentucky. A four-game road series at George Mason will put the finishing touches on the month of February the following weekend. That format will feature single games on Friday and Sunday with a doubleheader on the docket for Saturday.
The farthest road trip of the season will send Butler down to Osceola, Florida where the ‘Dawgs will take on St. Peters and Pittsburgh.
The 2018 home opener will be played on Friday, March 9 against Fort Wayne. BU will host a three-game series against the Mastodons just as they did last year.
Additional non-conference tilts are lined up against Northern Kentucky, Ball State, Western Michigan, Dayton, Valparaiso, Morehead State, Eastern Illinois, Miami Ohio, Illinois State, Indiana State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan and Indiana. The Hoosiers made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, but were eliminated from postseason play by Kentucky.
BU will play a single game at Northern Kentucky on March 13, but will welcome the Norse to Bulldog Field on April 3. The series against Western Michigan will be in Kalamazoo, meanwhile the three-game series against the Crusaders will be played in Indianapolis.
BIG EAST action will get underway on April 6 when Butler travels to Creighton. BU will open conference competition with two straight weekends on the road, followed by three-straight at home. The final weekend of the regular season will then shift back to New York.
The Bulldogs will play at Villanova after their trip to Omaha, Neb. The first home BIG EAST series will put Butler up against Seton Hall. Conference play continues with Butler hosting Xavier from May 4-6 and then the Georgetown Hoyas from May 11-13.
The final non-conference game on the schedule shows Butler hosting Eastern Michigan on May 15. The regular season will come to a close on May 19 when Butler plays at St. John’s.
