Despite a frigid day in Harrisonburg, EMU’s baseball men opened up practice for the 2016 season on Monday. Opening Day is less than a month away for a team which made history last spring; their 40-game slate starts on Feb. 13.
Coach Ben Spotts has a unique start to the schedule – an 11-game home stand including 10 in the month of February. Eastern Mennonite will welcome in a number of northern teams during the month, playing mostly weekend seven-inning doubleheaders. Penn State-Altoona starts things off on Feb. 13, with Juniata and Mt. St. Vincent each playing two against the Royals the following weekend. EMU also plays Messiah, Alfred St. and Southern Virginia to wrap up the home stretch.
After opening their Old Dominion Athletic Conference contests with a twinbill at Roanoke on Mar. 5, the Royals begin another unique aspect to their schedule – a Spring Break trip to California. The men will play single games at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Whittier and Chapman on Mar. 7-9. The three schools sit within 30 miles of each other in the valley east of Los Angeles.
To contrast how many recent seasons have opened, EMU has generally traveled to North Carolina for a handful of games on opening weekend before heading to the RussMatt Invitational in Florida over Spring Break.
Along with home doubleheaders against ODAC opponents Emory & Henry, Hampden-Sydney, Lynchburg and Virginia Wesleyan, the Royals continue their home-and-home splits with more local conference rivals Bridgewater, Shenandoah and Washington and Lee. Among their 25 home games this spring, the men also host non-conference dates with John Jay (doubleheader) and Ferrum.
The ODAC doubleheader with Virginia Wesleyan on Apr. 23 marks the end of the regular season with the ODAC Tournament running Apr. 28 through May 1 at City Stadium in Lynchburg. Last spring, Eastern Mennonite qualified for the ODAC Tournament for the first time since 2002.
Coach Ben Spotts, the 2015 ODAC Coach of the Year, is entering his fourth year at the helm of the Royals.
With the surging roster size led by Spotts’ recruiting efforts, Eastern Mennonite is also adding a junior varsity team this year, playing a slate of around 10 games.
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