FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Coming off the fifth consecutive post-season appearance and the fifth straight season with at least 34 wins, the No. 16 Nova Southeastern baseball team unveils its 50-game 2020 schedule. The Sharks will hit the field on the final day of January in NSU's debut under first-year head coach Laz Gutierrez, slated to face another perennially-strong schedule to complement a premiere Sunshine State Conference schedule.
 
"We're excited about the upcoming season," said Gutierrez, who took over for Greg Brown in December. "If you expect to play deep into the postseason with the aim to win a National Championship, you must be willing to play against the best competition. I believe that our schedule demonstrates that. As always, the SSC challenges us to play our best baseball on a weekly basis."
 
The Sharks will open on a nine-game homestand at the NSU Baseball Complex, kicking off the 2020 campaign on Friday, Jan. 31 against No. 7 North Greenville – meeting the Crusaders for the third consecutive year. NGU finished as high as No. 2 in the national polls last season, advancing to the Southeast Super-Regional with a 45-11 record. NSU went 1-for-3 in the 2019 road series in Tigerville, S.C.
 
The next day, Feb. 1, the Sharks will meet Tusculum at home for the fifth straight year – topping the Pioneers 17-5 in the 2019 season opener. TU went 30-21 a year ago, making the second round of the South Atlantic Conference tournament. NSU closes out the weekend with a local flair with St. Thomas coming north from Miami Gardens on Sunday, Feb. 2. The Bobcats secured a 49-15 record and charged all the way to the NAIA World Series final before falling 6-2 to National Champion Tennessee Wesleyan. STU opens in the NAIA polls where 2019 ended, with the Bobcats ranked No. 2. In their lone meeting, the Sharks topped STU 10-5 in late March.
 
Picked No. 3 in preseason polls, Colorado Mesa will migrate to Fort Lauderdale's favorable weather for a three-game series Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 6-8. The Mavericks are fresh off a program-record 53-12 mark, earning the South Central Region Championship and reaching the College World Series final before falling to Tampa, 3-1, in the National Championship game. The programs will be meeting for the first time and the series opens CMU's schedule.
 
The subsequent weekend, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 14-15, the Sharks host Newberry for the first time since the 2016 NSU National Championship season. The regular season SAC champions, NC fell in the SAC tournament and made a postseason appearance at the Southeast Regional. The Sharks and Wolves will meet in a three-game set with a Saturday doubleheader.
 
February closes with nine consecutive road contests for NSU. Feb. 18 provides a midweek non-conference look at Palm Beach Atlantic – the Sailfish went 24-25 in 2019. The weekend that follows opens Sunshine State Conference play at Barry in Miami Shores, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 21-23. The Buccaneers had a turnaround 29-17 finish for the first winning record since 2014, coming in sixth in the SSC standings. NSU and BU split at 2-2 last year.
 
After traveling for a midweek rematch at St. Thomas on Feb. 26, NSU heads north to Daytona Beach for a second SSC series at Embry-Riddle, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-29. The Eagles were 29-22 in 2019 and the Sharks swept the series at home.
 
March opens in Pensacola at No. 22 West Florida on March 2-3 with two games against an Argonauts team that finished 37-18 a year ago in the South Regional at Tampa. The Sharks and Argos split at 1-1 in the regular season and in the Regional as well – NSU earned redemption with a 5-3 win over UWF to reach the Regional final.
 
Next, the Sharks return home from 17 days of road contest as hosts to American International (March 6), Concordia (NY) (March 7) and Assumption (March 8). AIC went 19-24 and dropped a 9-0 midweek matchup at NSU in 2019. CC will face NSU for the first time and were 13-34 last  year. Another first-time opponent, AC was 26-20 last season and appearing in the East Regional.
 
It's all the way to March 13-14 before the Sharks get their rematch with 2019 South Regional and National Champion Tampa, hosting the Spartans at the NSU Baseball Complex. UT went 45-14 and rolled to their eighth national title with the victory over CMU, but first pulled off a 6-5, 12th-inning stunner over the Sharks in their Regional. The Spartans rank No. 1 in the preseason polls.
 
March 20-21 sees the Sharks head to Melbourne to face Florida Tech in SSC play. The Panthers were fourth in the league standings with a 29-18 record. NSU returns for a fourth game against Barry on Tuesday, March 24 at home, heading out that weekend to Boca Raton to face Lynn, March 27-29. The Knights were 20-28 and were swept by the Sharks in 2019.
 
April kicks off with a third meeting with St. Thomas, the Sharks traveling to Miami Gardens on April 1 before taking SSC foe Rollins at home over the weekend (April 3-5). The Tars were 25-24 but took a 2-1 series win over NSU in Winter Park last year. Next, a second non-conference meeting with PBA, April 27 in West Palm Beach opens a four-game NSU road swing – NSU traveling to Saint Leo, April 9-10. The Lions were 25-25 and NSU took a 2-1 series win at home last time around.
 
A fifth game against Barry (April 14) opens the next week, while the Sharks finally see PBA in SSC play on the weekend series, April 17-18.
 
The final two weekends of the year are huge series in their own right, as 2019 Sunshine State Conference champion Eckerd travels to the NSU Baseball Complex for Senior Weekend, April 24-25. Although NSU and Tampa tied the Tritons with a 19-11 SSC record, EC was declared the league champion under existing tiebreaker rules for their first conference crown in 38 years. The Tritons ended the year in the South Regional with a 31-19 finish. The final series sends the Sharks to Lakeland, May 3-4 to face nine-time National Champion and preseason No. 30 Florida Southern. The Sharks swept the Mocs to close out an uncharacteristic 23-27 FSC finish – their first losing season since 2015.