AUBURN, Ala. – Coming off the program's first College World Series appearance since 1997, Auburn baseball and head coach Butch Thompson announced the team's 2020 schedule Tuesday.
Auburn will play 37 of its 55 regular season games at Plainsman Park, including 23 straight to start the season. The team went 22-10 at home a season ago and has posted a 74-29 record at Plainsman Park in the last three seasons.
Fourteen of Auburn's opponents are coming off 30-win seasons, including eight that won 40 or more games. Ten teams on the Tigers' 2020 schedule went to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including a pair of teams that joined Auburn at the College World Series and two more that advanced to the super regional round.
Opening Day will take place at Plainsman Park for the sixth straight season as Auburn welcomes Illinois-Chicago to town for a four-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 14. The Tigers and the defending Horizon League Tournament champions will play a doubleheader Saturday, Feb. 15 before closing out opening weekend Sunday, Feb. 16.
The entirety of Auburn's non-conference weekend schedule will take place on The Plains as the team is set to host three-game series against UCF (Feb. 21-23), defending Horizon League champion Wright State (Feb. 28-Mar. 1) and Chicago State (Mar. 6-8).
Southeastern Conference play begins Friday, Mar. 13 with a three-game series against Texas A&M at Plainsman Park. The Tigers will also host Mississippi State (Apr. 3-5), Kentucky (Apr. 16-18), Florida (May 1-3) and LSU (May 14-16) during its home conference schedule.
The team's SEC road schedule starts Friday, Mar. 20 with a trip to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the homestanding Tigers in a three-game set. Auburn will also travel to play Alabama (Mar. 26-28), Georgia (Apr. 9-11), Arkansas (Apr. 24-26) and Ole Miss (May 8-10).
The Tigers 2020 schedule also includes 12 midweek games, beginning with a matchup against Oakland on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Plainsman Park. Nine of Auburn's midweek contests will take place at home, highlighted by a rematch of last year's Atlanta Regional final against Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Mar. 10.
Along with the aforementioned games, the team will host Alabama A&M (Feb. 25-26), defending Southern Conference champion Samford (Mar. 3), Wofford (Mar. 11), Alabama State (Mar. 17), fellow Atlanta Regional participant Florida A&M (Apr. 21) and UAB (May 5) in the midweek.
Continuing a rivalry of home-and-home midweek series, Auburn will also play road midweek games against UAB (Mar. 31), Georgia Tech (Apr. 7) and Samford (Apr. 14) in the middle of the season.
The SEC Tournament is scheduled to take place May 19-24 in Hoover, Alabama, with NCAA Regionals being played May 29-June 1, Super Regionals June 5-8 and the College World Series June 13-24.
Television designations and times will be announced at a later date.
Tigers Unlimited Billy Hitchcock renewals run through the end of the month and can be accessed here. Season ticket renewals are scheduled to begin Nov. 1, and general season tickets will go on sale Dec. 1 (early December). Call 855-282-2010 for ticket info and email tickets@auburn.edu with questions.
KNOW THE (UNFAMILIAR) FOES
*Auburn's series against Illinois-Chicago, Wright State and Chicago State will mark the first time in program history the teams have met.
*Illinois-Chicago won the 2019 Horizon League Tournament and earned the No. 4 seed in the Louisville Regional last season. The Flames have been to the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons.
*Wright State went 42-17 a year ago and won the 2019 Horizon League. The Raiders have been to the NCAA Tournament two times in the last four years.
*Auburn's non-conference series against UCF caps off a home-and-home series that started in Orlando a season ago. It will mark the first time in the Knights have played in Auburn since 1993.