College baseball in New England is an incredible experience for players, coaches, parents, friends, and family. Often times, teams are unable to get on a field before their first game and if they do, it means you have turf and it’s above 32 degrees. Every year, New England Division 1 schools travel south and west for 3 to 4 weekends to start their seasons. Schools travel across the country, (even to territories!) to get their games in. With all the travel, New England programs have great opportunities to play at various stadiums, schools, and landmarks. The list can go on, but here are our Top 10 destinations for the 2025 season.
10. Auburn University – Holy Cross kicks off their season at Auburn, February 14th-16th. The Crusaders are coming off a decent 2024 season, finishing over .500 in conference play and advancing to the Patriot League tournament. They also had some notable wins early in 2024 at William & Mary, Kansas State, and Hawaii. Auburn looks to rebound in 2025 after missing the SEC and NCAA tournaments. Last season, the Tigers hosted UConn for a weekend series.
9. University of South Carolina – Sacred Heart opens up their season, February 14th-16th in Columbia. The Pios are coming off a strong 2024 campaign, at 35-23. For South Carolina, it will be the first series with legendary coach, Paul Mainieri, in the dugout. South Carolina last hosted two New England programs in 2023 – UMass-Lowell for a regular season series and Central Connecticut in the Columbia regional.
8. Louisiana Tech University – Maine heads to Ruston opening weekend, February 14th-16th, for a four-game set. Maine is coming off a disappointing 2024 season, missing the America East tournament, only a season after being the #1 seed. Louisiana Tech is coming off a great season at 45-19 and advancing to the Fayetteville regional. They went 30-7 at home, at the Love Shack, which was destroyed by a tornado in 2019 and rebuilt. It will be the first time Louisiana Tech hosts a New England program since the COVID-shortened 2020 season – against Maine. In the last trip, they played at Ruston High School while the stadium was being rebuilt.
7. University of California – Coast-to-Coast, Boston College wraps up their regular season, May 15th-17th, at Cal. Usually we see California trips for early season or spring break trips, but this year we see BC heading out west for a CONFERENCE series. Cal finds themselves in the ACC now and BC has the chance to finish out ACC play on the west coast. Another great series for BC in their loaded schedule. Cal hosted UConn during the 2024 campaign. New England baseball in California, in May, we’re excited to see this one.
6. University of Oregon – Rhody heads out west early in 2025 for a four-game set in Eugene, February 21st-23rd. Oregon is coming off a Super Regional appearance after winning the Santa Barbara Regional, and falling to eventual National Runner-Up, Texas A&M in the College Station Super Regional. Rhody looks to bounce back in 2025 after missing the A-10 tournament. They continue to build tremendous early season non-conference weekends, including trips across the country in years past, to Texas A&M, Tennessee, Washington, Virginia, and Washington State. The Ducks last hosted a New England team in the 2021 regionals when Central Connecticut was shipped to Eugene and 2012 was the last year a New England team (UConn) went to Oregon for a regular season game.
5. Dodger Stadium & Southern California Trip – UConn makes their California trip this year, February 28th-March 2nd, and may be the toughest trip yet. This will be their fourth straight year playing in California. The Huskies will have the opportunity to play at Dodger Stadium, against New England-native, Tim Corbin, and Vanderbilt. They also play at Big-10 newcomers, USC and UCLA that weekend. Another great weekend in a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule that Jim Penders and staff built in 2025.
4. University of Virginia – Coming off back-to-back World Series appearances, Boston College and Dartmouth head down to Charlottesville. Dartmouth plays February 28th-March 2nd, after opening their season at Texas the previous week. The Big Green look to make the Ivy League playoffs for the first time since 2016. BC heads down to Virginia the following weekend, as they open up ACC play. Virginia took 2 out of 3 against the Eagles last year, at Fenway Park and in Brighton. BC’s last series win against Virginia was in 2016. Virginia is no stranger to hosting New England programs; aside from BC during ACC play, the Cavaliers have hosted UMass, URI, UConn, Dartmouth, and UMass-Lowell in the last five years at The Dish.
3. University of Florida – Also coming off back-to-back World Series appearances, including National Runner-Up in 2023, Florida hosts Harvard March 7th-9th. The Crimson look to make a run in the Ivy League again this year, similar to their 2023 run (15-6 in conference play, #2 seed in the Ivy League tournament). The early season non-conference schedule they’ve built is one of the best in New England; opponents in that stretch include Indiana, Michigan State, Florida, Bryant, and the one we’re looking forward to the most – Northeastern (3-game set March 15th-16th). The Crimson head to Gainesville, the first time in a few years a New England program has played there – Yale in the 2019 regular season and most recently UConn in the Gainesville Regional in 2023.
2. Florida State University – 44 straight years, 45 out of the last 46 years in the NCAA tournament. The team that beat UConn last year to advance to Omaha. Anytime a team goes to Dick Howser Stadium, it’s a challenge, which is why going to Florida State is ranked #2 on the list. Boston College goes to Tallahassee, March 14th-16th, for ACC play. A stretch for BC that everyone in New England will be watching – Virginia the first weekend of ACC play, Florida State the second weekend. The last time the Seminoles hosted a regular season, non-ACC New England school, was Maine in 2019. Since 2019, the Seminoles are 131-50 (a .724 winning percentage) at home.
1. Puerto Rico Challenge – UConn opens their season at the first-ever Puerto Rico Challenge, with some of the biggest names in college baseball. They will play Stetson (Feb 14th), Missouri (Feb 15th) and Penn State (Feb 16th). Those four programs will join Virginia, Michigan, Rice, and Villanova. The challenge will take place at Estadio Yldefonso Sola Morales in Caguas and Estadio Francisco Montaner in Ponce. UConn will play all three games in Caguas as they look to have another incredible year, after winning the Norman (Oklahoma) Regional and advancing to the Tallahassee Super Regional last year. The Huskies have a short history against all three schools. 4-3 all-time against Stetson and this will mark their first game outside of DeLand, where Stetson is located. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2017. 0-1 all-time against Missouri, with the only contest coming in 2008. 3-2 all-time against Penn State and will also be the first game between the two schools since 2008. Penn State and UConn’s first ever meeting was in the 1959 College World Series. The Puerto Rico Challenge is just one highlight of UConn’s absolutely loaded non-conference schedule and lands at the top of our list for best destinations for New England programs.
Honorable Mention:
-Austin – Dartmouth at Texas, February 21st-23rd
-Orlando – Bryant at UCF, February 21st-23rd
-Tony Gwynn Stadium – Northeastern at San Diego State, March 6th-9th
-Coral Gables – UConn at Miami (FL), March 7th-9th
-Durham – UConn at Duke, March 18th
-Chapel Hill – UConn at North Carolina, March 19th
-TD Ameritrade Park – UConn at Creighton, April 4th-6th (Home of the College World Series)
-Winston-Salem – BC at Wake Forest, April 17th-19th
By: Brainstormball
The College Dugout 