CHESTER, Pa. – Widener baseball head coach Kevin Burdick has announced the Pride's 2024 schedule.

Last season, the Pride went 22-20 (15-9 MAC). They made the conference semifinals, where they travelled to Reading, Pa. to take on the Alvernia University Golden Wolves. Although the two sides split the first two games of the three-game series, the Golden Wolves won the tiebreaker 7-6.

Burdick said the team is excited and ready for to the challenging schedule.

"We are excited for the 2024 season," he said. "It's another challenging schedule, but we are ready for the challenge."

He added that the Pride's balanced roster will give them a strong chance to play in early May.

"The team is a good balance of returners and young guys eager for an opportunity," Burdick said. "We believe we will be playing our best baseball late in the season."

The Pride have a good group of returning players for the 2024 season. This includes, but is not limited to, senior pitcher Sean Curran, sophomore pitcher Hayden O'Neill, and senior catcher Nick Barenz.

Curran was a constant in the Widener pitching rotation in 2023. In 12 games played, he had a 3.93 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He had a team-best 47 strikeouts. Curran was named to the 2023 MAC Commonwealth Second Team. In O'Neill's first season, he put up a solid 2.99 ERA and 1.28 WHIP on the mound. He had a team-high 69.1 innings pitched. He was named to the 2023 Region 5 All-Region Third Team. Finally, Barenz had a good year in both batting and catching. He hit .301 with 22 runs, 31 hits, and 16 RBIs. On defense, he had 110 putouts. Barenz was a 2023 MAC Commonwealth Honorable Mention.

The Pride will begin the new season on Saturday, Feb. 10 in Winchester, Va. for a doubleheader against Shenandoah. The following weekend, they will see SUNY Cortland and Salisbury. The average winning percentage between those three colleges in 2023 was 78.3%. The Pride will see Kean and Washington College on the road to wrap up February.

Swarthmore comes to Chester on March 5, which will serve as Widener's home opener. The Pride will then travel to Florida for the Russmatt Invitational. They will play against Farmindale State, Keystone (Pa.), and UMass Dartmouth. After Russmatt, Widener will see their first MAC three-game series against Eastern starting on March 15. The Pride have five consecutive home games in late March before the month ends with a series against Hood.

In April, the Pride start with a home game against Rosemont. But, the majority of April will be conference opponents. The Pride have a series with both York and Albright toward the beginning of the month. Some of the top MAC teams from 2023, including Alvernia and Messiah, are at the end of the month. The final day of the Pride's regular season is Saturday, April 27. The Pride face Messiah in a doubleheader, which is the final two games of their three-game set.

To view the entire schedule, click here.