ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University baseball team will play eight contests in 2017 against three teams that reached the NCAA Division II Tournament last season, as the Trojans released their schedule on Wednesday.

The Trojans earned a berth in the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Tournament before bowing out following a win and a pair of setbacks and will be vying for their second appearance in the SAC Championship in three seasons after wrapping up the 2016 campaign with a 20-30 overall record and a 9-15 mark in the SAC.

Anderson's schedule features a balanced slate with 25 home contests and 25 games on the road, including 26 nonconference matchups to go along with the 24 SAC games. The schedule includes 11 opponents from Conference Carolinas, nine Peach Belt Conference foes and a three-game set versus Newberry that will not count as league contests.

Anderson opens the 2017 schedule with a four-game homestand, marking the sixth time in eight years that the Trojans have started the season in the friendly confines of Anderson Memorial Stadium.

North Greenville pays a visit to the Electric City on Tuesday, Feb. 7 after posting a 35-16 overall record last season and finishing second in Conference Carolinas with a 21-6 mark. The Crusaders advanced to the Conference Carolina's Tournament, but were eliminated after dropping back-to-back decisions to Barton and Erskine in the postseason. Anderson and NGU split a pair of lopsided matchups a year ago, with the Trojans claiming a 10-3 win in early March at Memorial Stadium, while North Greenville avenged the loss with a 13-1 win at Fluor Field.

A day later the Trojans play host to Young Harris, which finished 12th in the Peach Belt, with a 12-37 overall mark and a 6-23 record in the PBC. AU posted 24 runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Mountain Lions last April at Memorial Stadium. The Trojans take on Newberry, Feb. 11-12, in a three-game set which will feature a Saturday afternoon twinbill at Memorial Stadium, then a solo game at Newberry the next day. The Wolves (33-19-1, 13-11 SAC) finished fourth in the league standings and took two-of-three from AU a year ago.

Anderson squares off against 2016 College World Series participant Lander and first-year head coach Jason Burke on Valentine's Day. The Bearcats went 44-16 last season, finished as runners-up in the Peach Belt and notched two wins at the CWS before being eliminated by top-ranked Millersville last June. The Trojans pay a mid-week visit to Emmanuel a day later, then plays host to Augusta for a non-conference twinbill on Saturday, Feb. 18. The Jaguars posted a 29-22 record a season ago, including a 17-13 mark in the Peach Belt, while finishing fifth in the PBC standings. The Trojans will travel south the following day to wrap up the three-game season series with Augusta. The Jaguars took two-of–three from AU a year ago.

Two days later, the Trojans renew one of their oldest rivalries by traveling 30 minutes south to Due West to face defending Conference Carolinas regular-season champion Erskine, which finished last season with a 37-16 mark and a school-record 22 league wins. AU dropped last season's first meeting with the Flying Fleet, but bounced back to knock off Erskine twice over the remainder of the season. Anderson wraps up the three-game road swing by visiting Southern Wesleyan on Feb. 22.

The Trojans open conference play on Feb. 24 by playing host to Lenoir-Rhyne and will be looking for their first win over the Bears since claiming an 18-0 shutout in the middle game of a three-game set in mid-April, 2015. AU closes out the month of February at Limestone. The Trojans and Saints split a pair of mid-week matchups last season, with each team winning on the other's home field. After not facing each other last season, Wingate travels to the Upstate on March 3-4, for a three-game conference series at Memorial Stadium. The Bulldogs won the 2015 SAC Tournament and finished last season with a 30-22 record and tied for sixth in the SAC with an even 12-12 league mark.

AU wraps up the season series with Emmanuel on March 7 and plays host to North Georgia a day later. The Nighthawks defeated AU, 7-1, in Dahlonega in a regionally-televised game on ESPN3, en route to an eighth-place finish in the Peach Belt. Before taking a four-day break – their longest of the season – the Trojans visit Carson-Newman to Memorial Stadium for three league contests. The Eagles captured third place in the conference standings a season ago after posting a 31-21 overall record and a 14-10 SAC slate. AU claimed a decisive 11-2 win over Carson-Newman in last season's series opener, but the Eagles bounced back to take a pair of narrow victories in a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.

Following the layoff, the Trojans travel to Greenwood, S.C., for a Thursday night matchup at Lander before returning home to square off against Mars Hill, March 17-18. The Lions posted a 30-18 overall record last season, but were 11-13 in the conference and missed out on the postseason. Anderson took two-of-three from the Lions in last year's series. After Young Harris pays a visit to the Electric City on March 21, defending conference champion Tusculum invades Memorial Stadium for the first time since the 2014 campaign. The Pioneers posted a 38-18 record last season and made their first appearance in the NCAA Southeast Regional since 2012 as the fifth seed. Tusculum defeated Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive in the regional but bowed out of the tourney after falling to USC Aiken for the second time.

The Trojans square off against Erskine for the second of three meetings on March 28, then open a season-high eight-game road swing at Coker. The Cobras swiped two-of-three from AU last season at Memorial Stadium, as the two teams boasted offensive fireworks by combining to score 56 runs during last year's three-game series in the Upstate. Anderson travels to Tigerville for a matchup with North Greenville on April 5, then returns to conference play with a trip to Brevard for three games. The weekend series will mark the final meetings between the Tornados and Trojans as conference foes, as Brevard will transition to NCAA D-III following the season. AU took two-of-three from Brevard in late March at Memorial Stadium.

AU closes the road swing by visiting North Georgia on April 12 and squaring off against defending Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) regular-season champions Winston Salem State, April 14-15. The Rams posted a 31-22 record a year ago and claimed the CIAA title with a 13-3 mark, but were denied their sixth straight conference tournament crown after being upset by Chowan in the tourney finals.

The Trojans follow their longest road swing of the campaign by closing the season with a season-high six-game homestand. Southern Wesleyan and Limestone visit Memorial Stadium for mid-week contests in mid-April and AU wraps up conference play by playing host to Lincoln Memorial April 21-22. The Railsplitters were 21-21 a year ago and notched fifth place in the league with a 12-10 record. LMU claimed a pair of wins in last year's regular-season slugfests, which saw the two teams combine for 85 runs in three matchups, including the Trojans' 24-10 win in the third game.

Anderson closes the regular season with its third matchup against Erskine on April 24 and the the 2017 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship is set for April 27- May 1 at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn.