SIUE Announces 2020 Baseball Schedule

"We have a very competitive non-conference schedule with a mix of teams and programs we have not faced recently," Lyons said.

Among their regular season games, the Cougars will play 33 on the road, including opening the season with 11 consecutive road games.

SIUE will travel south to play four two-game series in the season's first two weekends. The Cougars will open the season at Nicholls State where they will meet the Colonels for a pair of games (Feb. 14-15) and also will take on George Washington (Feb. 15-16) while in Thibodaux, Louisiana. The following weekend will take SIUE to Nacogdoches, Texas. SIUE will face UT Arlington in a pair of neutral-site games (Feb. 21-22) as well as play two games at Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 22-23). The Cougars then will play a three-game series at Central Arkansas (Feb. 28-Mar. 1) before opening the home season.

"It's going to be a good litmus test for our team," Lyons said of the opening three weeks. "Early in the season, often times we are trying to find our identity and playing quality opponents will help us do that.  Midwestern programs are used to starting the season on the road and these trips will prepare the guys both physically and mentally for the conference schedule. In order to have a successful season, we will need to play well on the road and this stretch should prepare us to do so."

SIUE will also play nonconference road contests at Missouri State (Mar. 11), Missouri (Mar. 31), Western Illinois (Apr. 14), and Saint Louis (Apr. 21).

The home season for SIUE begins with the Saint Louis Billikens (Mar. 3) and also includes nonconference opponents Western Illinois (Mar. 17), Evansville (Mar. 24), Bradley (Apr. 7), and Illinois State (Apr. 28).

SIUE will play 15 three-game Ohio Valley Conference series beginning with Tennessee Tech at Simmons Baseball Complex (Mar. 6-8). SIUE also will play host to Belmont (Mar. 20-22), Morehead State (Apr. 3-5), Austin Peay (Apr. 24-26) and Jacksonville State (May 8-10).

The Cougars will travel for OVC series at Southeast Missouri (Mar. 13-15), Eastern Kentucky (Mar. 27-29), UT Martin (Apr. 9-11), Eastern Illinois (May 1-3) and Murray State (May 14-16).

"The OVC has been highly competitive from top to bottom in recent years," Lyons said. "Our conference champions have represented the league very well in the NCAA Tournament and I'm excited to see what 2020 has in store."

The OVC Tournament returns to Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois for the second consecutive year. The top eight finishing teams in the league will take part in the tournament.

Effingham High School graduate Braydon Bone begins his senior season. Bone is 6-foot-2, weighs 175 pounds and is a right-handed pitcher for the Salukis.