SPORTS

 

Davidson’s 2019 baseball schedule, released Friday, will present a steady stream of tests, both in and out of Atlantic 10 Conference play, said first-year head coach Rucker Taylor.

The Wildcats will open the season Feb. 15 at home against Towson as they look to continue a recent run that includes 68 wins the last two seasons.

“On paper, 2019 should be a challenging schedule that will test us early and often,” said Taylor. “We think we have the possibility of having some depth on the mound and positionally, and this schedule should allow us the opportunity to get a lot of guys involved early.”

Davidson will play its first seven games at Wilson Field and its first 12 in North Carolina before visiting Vanderbilt, Taylor’s alma mater, on March 5. The Commodores, who have reached three College World Series, played in the NCAA Super Regionals the last two seasons.

Davidson will renew its in-state matchup with 2018 College World Series participant North Carolina with an April 2 visit to Chapel Hill, which will mark the teams’ first meeting since the Wildcats secured the 2017 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional championship with a 2-1 victory over the Tar Heels. Davidson will also host and visit Duke – a Super Regional team a year ago – on Feb. 19 and March 26, respectively, and travel to Wake Forest May 7.

Davidson will meet Winthrop March 13 at Charlotte’s BB&T Ballpark in the fifth game of the Charlotte Knights’ eight-game Collegiate Baseball Series.

“Playing at BB&T is always an exciting event, and we hope we have great crowd support there and at Wilson Field for the quality opponents that are coming in to town,” said Taylor.

In Atlantic 10 play, the Wildcats will host Richmond, La Salle, Rhode Island and Saint Louis and visit VCU, George Washington, UMass and St. Bonaventure in three-game sets to complete the 24-game league slate. The series with Saint Louis, last season’s A-10 regular season and tournament champion, is the fifth in as many years since Davidson joined the conference. Additionally, the Wildcats are facing VCU for the fourth straight year and Richmond for the fourth time in the A-10.

The 2019 A-10 tournament is set for May 22-25 and will be hosted by Fordham at Houlihan Park in The Bronx.

Davidson followed up its 2017 run to the Super Regionals by going 33-21 in 2018 and setting the program’s regular-season wins record (32).

Six everyday starters return this year, led by senior catcher/infielder Eric Jones, a second-team A-10 pick last season. The Charlotte native led the Wildcats in most offensive categories, including batting average (.333), hits (67), doubles (14) and RBI (60), and his 11 home runs led the team along with fellow senior returner Justin Lebek, who earned A-10 all-tournament honors.