Head Coach Chris Wiley and the Limestone College baseball team have announced a heavy home schedule for the 2017 season that will feature 31 of 50 regular season games to be played at the friendly confines of Founders FCU Stadium.
Chris Ford, a senior outfielder from Lake View, is returning this season.
The 2017 schedule is front loaded with home contests in February as 17 of the first 19 games of the year will be played in Gaffney, including a stretch of 10 straight at home. The longest road trip of the season for the Saints will be a five-game tilt late in the year.
The Blue and Gold gets the year started with a short road trip to take on Mars Hill University on Wednesday, February 1 at 2 p.m. before the Saints open the home schedule with a three-game series against Saint Anslem College that weekend. Limestone took two-of-three from the Hawks last year.
Following a nonconference game against Carson-Newman University on February 8, the Saints will welcome Davis & Elkins College to Founders FCU Stadium for a three-game set on Saturday and Sunday. It will mark the first meeting between Limestone and the Senators on the diamond.
The Saints then travel to take on Lenoir-Rhyne University before opening up a 10-game homestand with the Limestone Classic on Saturday, February 18 and Sunday, February 19. The classic will feature a total of six games as three teams – Limestone, LIU Post and Gannon University – fight it out over two days.
Lander University will visit on Wednesday, February 22 before the Blue and Gold opens the Conference Carolinas schedule with a three-game series against Barton College that weekend.
Limestone will then close the homestand with nonconference games against Anderson (Feb. 28) and Lenoir-Rhyne (Mar. 1).
Limestone then travels to take on Pfeiffer University for the final time in the regular season as the Falcons will transition to NCAA Division III next season. The two programs have played each other a total of 64 times in a rivalry that dates back to the 1991 campaign.
Conference Carolinas foes Erskine College and North Greenville University will visit for three-game series on consecutive weekends with a road trip to take on Carson-Newman squeezed in between.
The Saints then host Francis Marion University on March 22 before traveling to face Southern Wesleyan University in conference action on March 24 and March 25.
Limestone will stay on the road for a nonconference matchup at Lander on March 29 before returning home to close out March and open April with a three-game series against Emmanuel College. Wingate University then visits on April 5 to bring the brief homestand to an end.
The Saints then play nine of the final 12 regular season games on the road, starting with a three-game road series at rival Belmont Abbey College.
The Blue and Gold will then travel to face Francis Marion on April 11 and Wingate on April 12 before returning home to host King University on April 14 and April 15.
Four straight road games will bring the regular season to a close as the Saints visit Anderson on April 19 before making the trip to face the University of Mount Olive in a three-game set.
If Limestone should qualify, the 2017 Conference Carolinas Tournament will be played April 26-30 in Burlington, N.C.
The year gets underway when Limestone travels to face Mars Hill on Wednesday, February 1 at 2 p.m.
