HARRISONBURG, Va. – After back-to-back abbreviated seasons, James Madison baseball will look to bounce back with a challenging 56-game schedule, as unveiled by Head Coach
Marlin Ikenberry on Monday morning.
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The season features 25 home games at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park, and is highlighted by matchups against four squads from Power Five conferences and a full league slate for the first time since 2019.
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"This schedule is set up to challenge us on the road and at home," Ikenberry said. "I am excited to get started and compete with this group."
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JMU will start the non-conference part of the schedule off with perennial powers of the ACC and SEC, first with a three-game set at Florida State (Feb. 18-20), who holds the nation's longest active streak of consecutive NCAA appearances. Two-and-a-half weeks later, they will take on a team who made it to the College World Series last season, as they visit Tennessee on March 8-9.
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Following the opening series in the Sunshine State, the Dukes will return home for their home opener against George Mason on Feb. 23, one of four home-and-homes on tap for the schedule against in-state foes. They travel to Fairfax on April 20, as they will also take on VMI (home March 1, away April 5), Richmond (away March 2, home April 19), and Virginia Tech (home March 15, away April 26).
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Eagle Field will host a set of back-to-back non-conference series early in the season as Fairleigh Dickinson (Feb. 25-27) and Quinnipiac (March 4-6) come to town. Stetson (March 23) and Longwood (March 29) will also visit Eagle Field for midweek games before JMU wraps up their home non-conference slate by hosting Big Ten foe Maryland on May 17. The Dukes will also travel to College Park, Md. to take on the Terps on April 12 for their fifth home-and-home on the schedule.
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The Dukes' road schedule will have them on the road for three straight weekends in March playing at Morehead State (March 11-13) and Winthrop (March 18-20), before opening Colonial Athletic Association play on March 25-27 at Delaware. The series with the Blue Hens will open up the first full slate of league play in three seasons.
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In addition to Delaware, the Dukes will hit the road for league play against the College of Charleston (April 8-10), Towson (May 6-8), and Hofstra (May 13-15). Prior to the Towson series, JMU will play their final non-conference series of the regular season as they take on Presbyterian (April 30-May 1)
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The Dukes will then host Elon (April 1-3), defending champion Northeastern (April 15-17), William & Mary (April 22-24), and then cap off the season against UNCW (May 19-21).
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For the first time, the CAA Tournament will be held at Elon this season from May 25-29. Elon was originally going to host the tournament in 2021, but was pushed back a season due to the cancelled 2020 season.
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