Cajuns baseball announces 2017 slate

Coming off of a school record-tying fourth straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team will face a challenging schedule in 2017, head coach Tony Robichaux announced Monday.
The schedule features eight NCAA tournament participants from 2016, including national champion Coastal Carolina.
Twenty of the Ragin’ Cajuns 56 scheduled games come against postseason teams from a year ago, including eight of the first 12.
“We have a very challenging schedule this year, as we do most years,” Robichaux said in a news release. “With the addition of Coastal Carolina to the Sun Belt, they have made our conference better. That’s what you want. You want the best competitive conference that you can get. It ultimately makes you better.”
The team opens the season in Hammond Feb. 17-19 with single games against Southeastern Louisiana, Murray State and Hofstra.
The Cajuns will have 27 home dates in 2017, including non-conference series with Southern Miss (March 3-5) and St. Peter’s (March 10-12).
Louisiana’s lone non-conference road series takes place the second week of the year against Sam Houston State (Feb. 24-26).
Due to ongoing renovations at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field, Robichaux, along with athletics administration, are pursuing all options for home games until the facility is completed. Once the sites are determined, the information will be released on RaginCajuns.com.
“This is an exciting time with the facility upgrades, and our administration is working diligently to make the early part of our schedule as fan friendly as possible,” Robichaux said in the release. “We are prepared to do what we need to do this year in order for the stadium to be completed. Everyone is working hard to make sure that all of the options are looked at, from the administration all the way to the construction company.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns have non-conference neutral site games against LSU on April 11 in the Wally Pontiff Classic at Zephyr Field in Metairie and against Texas on April 25 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
The Cajuns also have non-conference home-and-home series against Tulane, Nicholls, Louisiana Tech, McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana.
Louisiana opens conference play with a home series against Appalachian State (March 17-19). The Ragin’ Cajuns also host South Alabama (March 31-April 2), Arkansas State (April 13-15), Georgia Southern (May 5-7), and Texas State (May 12-14) in Sun Belt action.
The Cajuns have Sun Belt Conference road series against Troy (March 24-26), Coastal Carolina (April 7-9), Arkansas-Little Rock (April 21-23), UT-Arlington (April 28-30) and ULM (May 18-20).
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held May 24-28 at J.I. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.
“We look forward to getting started, and every year is a new year,” Robichaux said. “The guys have been working really hard throughout the fall to get ready for a challenging season. We want to make sure that as a team we are prepared for whatever comes our way. We are prepared to play on the road a little more than normal, but this team is up to the challenge if it comes to that. We embrace what this is all about like the Cubs and Joe Maddon have embraced the curse. Look where that has gotten them, to the World Series.
“All good teams have to win on the road, and we are prepared to do that both physically and mentally,” Robichaux added. “There will be no excuses. We know what it is, and we had time to prepare for it. We will take it on as a personal and professional challenge. You run towards a professional challenge and not away from it.”
Berwick High alum Chris Charpentier will be a senior on this year's squad.
For updates and info on Ragin’ Cajuns baseball, follow the team on twitter @CajunsBaseball or check RaginCajuns.com.