Baseball released their 2020 regular and postseason schedule on Tuesday. Their opening day is set for Saturday, Feb. 1st at home vs. Southwest Virginia. The first pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12:00 ET.
The Cougars had a strong 27-20 campaign last season while also going 15-9 in TCCAA play. They will return 2019 All-TCCAA Team member Lance Dockery, who had a .337, 33 RBI, 41 runs scored campaign last season along with Jonathan Hickman, who led the team in average and RBIs, with numbers of .381 and 39, respectively, while also posting a 3.44 earned run average on the mound. Andrew Carpenter, who batted .323 and drove in 31 runs in 2019, also will provide sophomore leadership to the team.
Head Coach Mike Policastro also looks forward to seeing what his talented recruiting class can do. Some incoming freshmen he thinks highlight the group include infielder Courtney Payne, catcher and first baseman Reese Plemons, and pitchers Dayton Wisley, Kaleb Orr, and Jared Young.
"We feel like we have a pretty good group coming back paired with quality guys coming in," said Policastro. "We will need to key on the [freshmen] pitchers… all those guys are going to have to step up and log quality innings for us going into the spring."
Cleveland State, who was seeded third in the TCCAA last season, will open conference play on Friday, Feb. 28 at Jackson State. Other key series include a trip to face Walters State, who has won the TCCAA Tournament two years in a row, on Apr. 3-4, a rematch at Motlow State, the second-seeded team who eliminated the Cougars from postseason play last season, on Mar. 13-14, and dates with cross-town rival Chattanooga State on Mar. 20-21 in Chattanooga for a conference series and non-conference games on Mar. 31 and Apr. 21.
"Our conference is very competitive…" said Policastro. "All 10 teams in the conference are capable of beating everybody on any given day. You have to play well everyday and then you'll have a chance to be successful."
Cleveland State hopes to build off of their success last year and go deeper into the TCCAA Tournament, which will take place Apr. 29-May 2 in Gallatin, Tenn. at Volunteer State. "The goal is always to win the national tournament and win the conference tournament," said Policastro. "Our goal is to be the best that we can be everyday. If we do that, we're going to win our share of games… This is the way that we approach everyday. We always want to win every game and we know we control what we can do. If we play well, if we pitch well, if we hit well, we have a chance to win everyday."
Stay tuned to cscougars.com for updates on the upcoming 2020 Baseball season.
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