The Valparaiso University baseball program has announced its schedule for the 2021 season, a slate that begins on Friday, Feb. 19 with the opener of a three-game series at UAB in Birmingham, Ala. That starts a 52-game regular season slate leading into the 2021 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament hosted by Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill. starting on May 25.
After playing at Conference USA foe UAB for the second time ever and first since a recent 2017 visit from Feb. 19-21, Valpo will play three more in the Heart of Dixie at Jacksonville State (Feb. 26-27) in Jacksonville, Ala. In the most recently completed season of 2019, the Gamecocks went 39-23 en route to an Ohio Valley Conference Championship, NCAA Regional appearance and a pair of victories in the Oxford Regional.
Valpo will have a break in the action the weekend of March 5-7 before returning to the diamond for a four-game series at Middle Tennessee State (March 12-14) in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the first-ever matchups between the two teams. Three of the team’s first four series will be against Conference USA foes, a trend that continues March 19-21 at Western Kentucky, marking the second consecutive season Valpo makes its way to Bowling Green, Ky.
Valpo will play nearby foe Notre Dame three times this season. The March 23 and April 11 meetings will occur in Notre Dame, Ind., before the Fighting Irish make their way to Emory G. Bauer Field on May 11. The instate foes from the ACC went 11-2 during the abridged 2020 season.
All Missouri Valley Conference series are scheduled to be of the four-game variety this year with the two teams playing a doubleheader on Saturday sandwiched around single games on Friday and Sunday. Valpo will begin Valley play in Dallas, Texas with a visit to Horner Ballpark to take on DBU (April 1-3). Other road conference series will be at Indiana State (April 16-18), at Bradley (May 7-9) and at Missouri State (May 20-22).
In terms of home conference sets, Valpo will welcome Southern Illinois (April 23-25), Illinois State (May 30-May 2) and Evansville (May 14-16).
The Brown & Gold will battle instate rival Butler on March 26 in Indianapolis and March 28 in a doubleheader at Emory G. Bauer Field, the team’s home opener. The remaining nonconference series will take place in Rochester, Mich. against Oakland (April 9-11). In addition, Valpo will host Eastern Illinois in a midweek game on Wednesday, April 7.
The regular-season slate leads into the MVC Tournament, which is scheduled for May 25-29 at Southern Illinois in Carbondale, Ill.
