Warhawks unveil 2020 baseball schedule featuring 32 home games

MONROE, La. – ULM head baseball coach Michael Federico announced the team’s 2020 schedule Wednesday morning, which features 32 home games, including a double mid-week home set against Ole Miss at Warhawk Field. Overall, ULM is scheduled to play 12 games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season.

“That’s huge to have Ole Miss coming to town, as well as a good program like Southeastern (Louisiana) coming in for a double mid-week as well,” Federico said.

The 32 home games are the most for ULM since playing 33 games at Warhawk Field in 2015.

The Warhawks will enjoy 11 of the first 13 games at home this season, with the only two road contests featuring trips to Grambling State and Northwestern State.

“We’re starting out the season with our first three weekends at home,” Federico said. “There’s hopefully going to be some home field advantage early in the year.”

The Warhawks open the season with a three-game series against Southeast Missouri State beginning on Friday, Feb. 14. After a mid-week trip to Natchitoches, ULM will face Grambling in a three-game series, with the Friday and Sunday games at Warhawk Field, while the Tigers will host Saturday’s contest. ULM then hosts Southeastern Louisiana for a double mid-week over Mardi Gras. The Warhawks wrap up the initial home spurt against reigning Missouri Valley Conference champion and NCAA tournament participant Illinois State before hosting Jackson State in a mid-week matchup.

The Warhawks visit Lake Charles to take on McNeese State for a three-game weekend series March 6-8. The Cowboys won the Southland Conference tournament last season to advance to the NCAA tournament.

Ole Miss comes to Warhawk Field for a double mid-week on March 10 and 11. It marks the first time since 2013 that a Southeastern Conference foe has visited Monroe, when the Rebels, then ranked No. 6, came to ULM for another double mid-week set. The Rebels reached the Fayetteville Super Regional in last year’s NCAA tournament.

“Ole Miss reached out to us about the possibility of coming here,” Federico said. “They did it before. They know it’s going to be a good environment. They know our fans are going to be rowdy and put them in a position to help them in their season with crowds and playing on the roads.”

The Warhawks have four more games on the home stand, including the first Sun Belt Conference series of the season against Arkansas State before capping it off against Stephen F. Austin on St. Patrick’s Day.

ULM then heads outside the state of Louisiana for the first time on the season when they play a three-game Sun Belt series at Coastal Carolina running March 20-22. The Chanticleers returned to the NCAA Tournament last season after winning the SBC Tournament. The Warhawks head back east the following weekend for a series at Georgia Southern.

In April, the Warhawks play an April Fools’ Day game at LSU before hosting Texas State in a three-game conference series. I-20 rival Louisiana Tech makes its first Warhawk Field appearance of the season on April 7.

ULM then embarks on a five-game road swing, playing three games at Little Rock before playing two games in the following mid-week, traveling to Southern Miss and Jackson State. Southern Miss qualified for last year’s NCAA tournament.

The Warhawks come back to Warhawk Field for the final seven games of April, starting with a three-game SBC series against South Alabama, followed by a mid-week game against Northwestern State, and then close the month with a three-game conference series against Appalachian State.

ULM will spend the bulk of the final month of the season away from Monroe. The Warhawks open May with a weekend series at UT Arlington before hosting Troy for senior weekend May 8-10. Louisiana Tech returns to Warhawk Field on May 12 before ULM closes the regular season at the rival Ragin’ Cajuns May 14-16.

“We’ve got a very tough stretch where we have to go to Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern back-to-back,” Federico said. “Other than that, we’ve got a really good opportunity with the teams that we have playing here that we feel like we can have a great season. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity with the schedule that we have.”

The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be played at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Ala., home to the Class AA Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League.