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A By The Numbers Look At Week 12 Action…

42…Game hitting streak by Florida International’s Garrett Wittels, who singled in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Arkansas State.  He’s now in fourth place in Division One history with Chuck Abbott of Austin Peay, who hit safely in 42 straight games in 1996.

Garrett Wittels (FIU photo)

58…NCAA record hitting streak set by Oklahoma State’s Robin Ventura in 1987.  Wittels needs hits in five more games to to Wichita State’s Phil Stephenson (1981) for the second longest streak in D1 history.

3 & 7…Home runs and RBIs by Wittels’ teammate, Mike Martinez, in the same game Wittels hit safely for the 41st game to help FIU down Arkansas State 15-4.

21…Game winning streak by Texas snapped in Friday’s 2-1 loss at Kansas State.  It’s the first ever home win against a number one ranked team for the Wildcats.

2…Consecutive Big 12 regular season titles for the Longhorns (41-8, 21-3), which clinched this year’s championship with wins in the last two games of the series with the Wildcats (32-15, 11-9), who are in third place in the Big 12.  Texas Tech (26-12, 12-9) is in second place.

50…Mile per hour wind gusts Saturday afternoon in the Buffalo, NY area where Canisius beat Manhattan 23-20.

Steve McQuail (Canisius photo)

68…RBIs this season by Canisus’ Steve McQuail-a new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference single-season record-after the junior drove in 6 runs with the help of a grand slam in the Griffs’ win.  The previous record of 67 RBIs had stood since 1993.

3…Grand slams hit this season by McQuail, who is 8-for-9 with 24 RBIs this season with the bases loaded.

9…Saves this season by UCLA pitcher Dan Klein-the most for a Bruin pitcher since 1993.

28…Innings pitched without allowing an earned run by # 32 New Mexico’s Willy Kesler prior  to allowing a one out two run home run in the top of the 9th inning in Saturday’s 3-2 win over #12 TCU.

140…Pitches needed by Kesler (5-1) to pick-up his third complete game of the season.

6…Straight games New Mexico had lost to TCU prior to Saturday’s victory.

9 & 67…Home runs and total bases by TCU in Sunday’s series-clinching 26-4 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque.  The home runs ties a new single-game program record, while the total bases sets a new school record.  In addition to the nine long balls, the Horned Frogs tallied 20 singles, four doubles and a triple.

2 & 7…Home runs hit and RBIs by TCU’s Aaron Schultz, who was 4-for-4 with a double in the victory.

Aaron Schultz (Photo courtesy Brett Davis)

16…Straight series wins by the Horned Frogs dating back to last season.  TCU (36-10, 13-4) leads New Mexico (31-17, 13-7) by three games in the Mountain West Conference standings.

24-1…Record of TCU’s weekend pitching rotation.  Kyle Winkler (7-1) suffered his first loss Saturday to the Lobos, while Matt Purke (9-0) and Stephen Maxwell (8-0) remain unbeaten.

13…Combined earned runs given-up by Vanderbilt’s Sonny Gray and LSU’s Anthony Ranaudo in Friday’s 15-16 game won by the Tigers.

15…Strikeouts by San Diego’s Kyle Blair in Friday’s 2-0 win over Portland. Blair (7-3) gave-up just one hit in the complete game effort.

2…Outs in the 9th inning when Blair’s no-hit bid ended thanks to a double by Portland’s Kris Kauppila.

14…Wins with no losses in WCC play for San Diego after winning the first two games of the series.

3…Outs recorded on a ground ball off the bat of #30 Texas State’s Jeff McVaney in Saturday’s 5-2 upset loss to McNeese State.  Steven Irvine, Matt Fontenot and Bryn Thompson combined on the 5-4-3 triple play.

1…NCAA bid officially locked-up when Dartmouth beat Columbia 11-5 in Sunday’s deciding game three of the Ivy League Championship Series.

Quintavious Drains

4…Pitchers, Cole Green of Texas, Anthony Meo of Coastal Carolina, Quintavious Drains of Jackson State, and Pittsburgh’s Cory Baker, who share the Division One lead with 10 wins this season.

1,022…Career wins by Ohio State’s Bob Todd, who announced his retirement last week after 27 years as a college baseball head coach.  Todd has 898 wins in his time in Columbus.  His Buckeyes dropped two of three games to Illinois over the weekend after he announced his intentions to step down at the end of this season.

13…Runs scored by Tennessee in Saturday’s 25-5 win at Georgia.  The Vols hit four home runs in the inning and scored 9 runs before an out was recorded.

52…Total bases for the Vols in the game to break the previous program record of 47.

0 & 11…Runs allowed and strikeouts recorded in 8.0 IP by Arkansas’ Mike Bolsinger in Sunday’s 7-0 series-clinching win at Ole Miss.  The Rebels’ 1-7 batters combined to go 0-for-22 in the loss. The win has the Razorbacks (36-11, 15-8) tied with the Rebels (34-14, 15-8) tied for first place in the SEC’s Western Division.

2…Wins by #44 Kentucky ( 25-21, 8-15) over South Carolina (36-10, 17-6) to keep the Wildcats’ NCAA hopes alive.  The SEC series win is just the second of the season for the Wildcats.

10…Consecutive SEC series South Carolina had won (dating back to last season) prior to losing two of three games in Lexington.  The Gamecocks are now tied for first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division with Florida (33-11, 17-6), which took two of three games vs. Alabama over the weekend.  The Gamecocks and Gators meet in Columbia in two weeks in the final weekend of the regular season.

Rob Folsom's walk-off double capped Oregon State's sweep of Oregon (OSU photo)

3…Games won by #47  Oregon State (24-17, 7-11) over # 20 Oregon (30-18, 10-11) to give the Beavers just their second Pac 10 series win of 2010.

11 of 12…Games Oregon State had lost prior to sweeping its weekend series vs. the Ducks.

8…Teams within three games of one another in the Pac 10 Conference race.  Arizona State is 39-5 overall and leads the conference race with a 14-4 mark.  Cal (11-9) UCLA (10-8) and Stanford (10-8) are all tied for second place at four games back, followed by Arizona (9-9), Oregon (10-11), Washington State (8-9), Washington (8-10), and Oregon State (7-11).

4…Games won by Fresno State (30-20, 11-5) at #48 New Mexico State (35-16-1, 13-6-1) to move ahead of the Aggies and into first place in the WAC standings.

23…Years since Auburn (33-15, 15-9) had swept a series from Mississippi State prior to taking three games from the Bulldogs over the weekend.  The Tigers are in second place in the SEC East.

3…Consecutive SEC series lost by defending national champion LSU (34-14, 12-11) after dropping two of three vs. Vanderbilt of the weekend. The Bayou Bengals  are in fourth place in the SEC East.

11…Home runs hit this season by Notre Dame outfielder Ryan Connolly, who is the only Irish player with double digit long balls.  Connolly also leads the Irish with a .367 batting average and 1.140 OPS.

4…Home runs hit by Connolly from 2006-2009.  The fifth-year senior missed all of 2006 and most of the next three seasons due to shoulder injuries.  All four of his previous career home runs were hit over the last 13 games of the 2009 campaign.

10…RBIs by West Virginia’s Grant Buckner in Saturday’s 22-6 win over the Irish.  The third baseman was 4-for-5 with three home runs, while setting a new school record for single-game RBIs to help the Mountaineers to their first Big East series sweep of the season.

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IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Columbia (25-19, 14-6 Ivy League) vs. Dartmouth (23-15, 13-7)

Dartmouth players celebrate their win over Columbia. (Courtesy Ivy League)

Freshman Kyle Hunter (2-0), who had six no-decisions this year (five of which Dartmouth won), earned the victory by hurling 5.2 innings while yielding four earned runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out six as well. Sophomore Cole Sulser shut the door on the Lions in relief of Hunter, tossing the final 3.1 innings and allowing just a solitary run in the ninth on a total of three hits while fanning five for his fourth save.

Senior Brett Gardner had three hits out of the nine-hole in the lineup with a team-high three RBIs, while sophomore lead-off hitter Joe Sclafani also picked up three hits with a pair of RBIs. Sclafani led the Big Green in the series with eight hits while batting .533 (8-for-15).

Dartmouth took an early 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Jim Wren that scored Sclafani who had led off the game with a sharp single to right.

The southpaw Hunter allowed nothing more than a single in each of the first two innings, but got himself into trouble by uncharacteristically walking the ninth-place hitter, Billy Rumpke, to start the third. Nick Crucet bunted Rumpke over and, after a wild pitch, Jon Eisen shot a ball up the middle past a drawn-in infield to tie the score at one.

A two-out single by Dario Pizzano in the fourth set up an RBI triple off the fence just inside the right-field foul line by Alex Ferrara to give Columbia the lead. Dean Forthun was then hit by a pitch, and with two strikes on Rumpke, Ferrara and Forthun pulled off a double steal to put the Lions up by two, 3-1.

Dartmouth answered right back in the fifth beginning when Brett Gardner lined a ball down the left-field line for a one-out double. He moved to third on a grounder to short and scored on a hard single through the right side by junior Sam Bean. Freshman Chris O’Dowd hit an identical single to send Bean to third before Wren ripped a shot to left for an RBI single to knot the score at three. The Lions summoned Tim Giel from the bullpen, who gave up an infield single to junior Jason Brooks before uncorking a wild pitch to allow O’Dowd to scamper home with the go-ahead run.

Another wild pitch in the sixth led to another Big Green run. Freshman Zack Bellenger swung at strike three, but reached first when the pitch was in the dirt and got away from the catcher. A sacrifice and a groundout put Bellenger on third with two out, then Sclafani doubled into the left-field corner to make it 5-3. When Bean hit a grounder up the middle for a hit, Sclafani tried to score from second only to be gunned down by the second baseman Crucet who had ranged far to his right to field the hit.

Pizzano singled home the fourth Lion run in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, plating Alexander Aurrichio who had reached on a one-out bloop double in front of Bean in left field.

In the seventh, O’Dowd led off the inning with an infield hit and Wren walked to end Giel’s day. Eric Williams came on to pitch and promptly gave up a bloop single to Brooks, loading the bases. The first out was recorded on strikes, but Bellenger grounded a single back through the box to score O’Dowd. A passed ball brought home another run, and Gardner ripped a single to left for two insurance runs with two gone for a 9-4 lead.

Meanwhile, Sulser — who replaced Hunter in the sixth after the fourth Lion run — was shutting down the Columbia offense, striking out the first three batters he faced. Crucet broke the trend with a triple off the fence in center, but was stranded when Sulser got Eisen to ground softly to Sclafani at short.

Dartmouth tacked on two runs in the ninth on RBI singles from Gardner and Sclafani. In the bottom half, Ferrara hit the first pitch for a long double to left, went to third on a wild pitch and trotted home on Forthun’s fly to the center-field fence. That would be all for the Lions, however, as Sulser got the second out on strikes and junior second baseman Jeff Onstott made a diving catch of a Crucet liner to end the game.

The Big Green, having won the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, will have to wait three weeks to discover their fate as to where they are assigned in the brackets. This will be Dartmouth’s seventh trip to a regional and the second time it has done so in consecutive years (also in 1969-70).

(Courtesy Dartmouth Sports Information,)

First 2010 NCAA Bid Up For Grabs

Yesterday we previewed the Ivy League’s Rolfe Division and today we’re doing the Gehrig Division.  We also make our predictions for overall conference winner as well as Player and Pitcher of the Year.

CLICK HERE to see the Rolfe Division Preview.

IVY LEAGUE PREVIEW-GEHRIG DIVISION

2009 Division Winners:  Dartmouth won the Rolfe & Cornell won the Gehrig Divsion

2009 Champion:  Dartmouth beat Cornell 2-1 last year in the best of two out of three Ivy Baseball Championship Series.

Ivy Fact:  Over the last five seasons five different teams have won Ivy League Baseball Crowns: Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth.

Columbia

2009 Record:  (11-32, 7-13)

Mascot:  Lions

Head Coach:  Brett Boretti

Location:  New York, NY

Vitals:  .275 BA, 22 HR, .392 OBP, .960 Fld%…6.78 ERA, 5 CG, 2 SVs, 192 K, 138 BB, .315 opp. BA

Columbia head coach Brett Boretti

Stats Don’t Lie:  Columbia’s .275 team batting average ranked 8th in the Ivy League last year, while its 6.78 ERA was 6th (of eight teams).

The Hall Calls:  Head coach Brett Boretti will soon be inducted into his alma mater, Davidson’s, Athletics Hall of Fame.  He remains the only Davidson player to ever be named to the Southern Conference All-Tournament Team.  He was named All-SoCon in 1993 and ’94.  Boretti led Columbia to its first Ivy League title in 31 years in 2008.

Youth In Numbers:  17 of the 30 players on the Columbia roster are either freshmen or sophomores, while there are just three seniors.  Sophomore Jon Eisen (.331, 20 RBIs) and Jr. Bobby O’Brien (.337, 2 HR, 20 RBIs) are among six players who drove-in at least 20 runs in ’09.

Lion Losses:  Columbia loses Ron Williams, who led the team with 27 RBIs last year,  as well as pitcher Joe Scarlata, the team-leader with four wins and 10 starts.

Two-Sport Alex:  6’6 Soph. Alex Aurrichio is also a goalkeeper for the Columbina soccer team.  He hit .375 in 13 Ivy League games last year, while batting .289 overall.  He led the Lions with 4 home runs, but he had just 9 RBIs in 29 games.

Cornell

2009 Record:  (17-23, 10-10)

Mascot:  Big Red

Head Coach:  Bill Walkenbach

Location:  Ithica, NY

Vitals:  .297 HR, 38 HR, .373 OBP, .960 Fld%…5.94 ERA, 3 CG, 9 SVs, 254 K, 127 BB, .291 opp. BA

Bats Back:  Reigning Ivy League batting champ Brian Billigen (.402), returns along with a solid supporting cast including Matt Langseth (.316), Mickey Brodsky (.309, 4 HR, 37 RBIs), and Nate David (.301, 8 HR, 32 RBIs).  Brodsky (2-3, 5.59 ERA) also made 6 starts with three relief appearances on the mound.

Key Loss:  Nathan Ford was one of the top hitters in the Ivy League last year.

David Rochefort

Here’s a look at where some of his stats ranked:  .462 OBP #1, .630 Slg% #2, .370 BA #4, 9 HR T-#5.

Bullpen Delux:  Big Red closer David Rochefort is back for his senior year to lead the pitching staff.  He had a league-best 2.52 ERA with 8 saves last year.  His two wins tied seven others for a team-high.  Rochefort held opponents to a .205 batting average thanks in part to 33 strikeouts and just five walks in 25 IP.

Big Red-Big Ten:  Cornell plays Ohio State and Northwestern in March in Florida.

Penn

2009 Record:  (17-24, 5-15)

Mascot:  Quakers

Head Coach:  John Cole

Location:  Philadelphia, PA

Vitals:  .310 BA, 39 HR, .376 OBP, .949 Fld%…6.74 ERA, 5 CG, 4 SVs, 241 K, 171 BB, .326 opp. BA

Penn Packed:  The Quakers return their top seven hitters from a team that ranked first with a .310 BA,  3rd with a .376 OBP and 2nd with 298 runs scored.

Will Gordon

Tom Grandieri (.357, 5 HR, 32 RBIs), Jeremy Maas (.356, 4 HR, 27 RBIs), Dan Williams (.337, 4 HR, 42 RBIs), Derek Vigoa (.336, 4 HR, 27 RBIs), Will Gordon (.327, 10 HR, 48 RBIs), Adrian Lorenzo (.322), and James Mraz (.304).  Gordon is just the second Penn player since 1979 to hit double digit home runs in a season.

And A Packed Pen:  Penn returns 11 of 12 pitchers from last year’s team, including Grandieri and Gordon (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 2 SVs).

Princeton

2009 Record:  (18-19, 10-10)

Mascot:  Tigers

Head Coach:  Scott Bradley

Location:  Princeton, NJ

Vitals:  .277 BA, 25 HR, .356 OBP, .954 Fld%…5.08 ERA, 6 CG, 6 SVs, 266 K, 132 BB, .287 opp. BA

Wow:  Former Princeton baseball & basketball standout Will Venable is one of just two Tiger basketball players to register at least 1,000 career points, 250 assists and 150 steals.  The other is current Princeton hoops coach Sydney Johnson.  Venable is currently a San Diego Padres outfielder.

Tiger Trail:  Former Tiger pitcher David Hale was drafted by Atlanta with the 87th overall pick of last year’s draft.

Top & Bottom:  Princeton’s 5.08 team ERA was the best in the Ivy League, but it’s .277 batting average was the second worst.

Line-Up Losses:  Three players who started all 37 games for the Tigers last year are gone:  Dan DeGeorge (.349, 2 HR, 21 RBIs), Derek Beckman (.294, 10 SB)

Matt Grabowski

and Jack Murphy (.291, 4 HR, 27 RBIs).  In fact, they lose 6 of their top 9 batters from a year ago.

No Shortage Of Arms:  While the line-up will turnover, Princeton returns 10 of its 12 pitchers from 2009, including Matt Grabowski (2-1, 5 SVs) whose 2.65 ERA ranked second in the league.

Tangling With Tar Heels:  Princeton plays two games at North Carolina March 16 & 17.

2010 Gehrig Division Predictions

Gehrig Division Winner:  Penn

Top Gehrig Player:  Will Gordon-Penn

Top Pitcher:  David Rochefort-Cornell

2010 Overall Ivy League Picks

Ivy Championship Series:  Penn to beat Dartmouth

Player of the Year:  Will Gordon-Penn

Pitcher of the Year:  Kyle Hendricks-Dartmouth

Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham baseball head coach Nick Restaino announced the team’s 2010 schedule today, as the Rams will begin play on February 19th in Virginia.

Fordham Head Coach Nick Restaino

the last seven years, in hopes of being at the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship, which will take place May 26-29 at Campbell’s Field in Camden, New Jersey.

Complete 2010 Fordham Schedule (PDF)

Fordham is scheduled to have 17 home games this season, which includes four Atlantic 10 weekend series at Houlihan Park.

Fordham will open the season at Old Dominion for a three-game series, February 19-21, followed by three games in Durham, North Carolina, against the Duke Blue Devils, February 26-28.

The Rams will then have their home opener on March 3rd, as they host cross town rival Manhattan College at Houlihan Park.

Fordham returns to the road for a three-game set at George Mason, March 5-7, before a home game against New York Tech on March 10th. The Rams then begin a seven-game stretch in Florida over Spring Break, where they have a three-game series with Pittsburgh (March 12-14) in West Palm Beach, Florida, a two-game series with Miami (Fla.) (March 16-17), and a three-game series versus Michigan at the Mets Training Facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida (March 19-20).

The Rams then begin Atlantic 10 play on the road at Richmond for three games, March 26-28. Besides Richmond, Fordham will play conference road series at St. Bonaventure (April 9-11), Dayton (April 23-25), Saint Joseph’s (May 7-9), and George Washington (May 14-16).

The Rams’ first home conference series will take place April 1-3, as they host Rhode Island. Fordham will also host Atlantic 10 opponents Saint Louis (April 16-18), La Salle (April 30-May 2), and Duquesne (May 20-22) at Houlihan Park.

In non-league play, Fordham will renew rivalries with Stony Brook, Fairfield, Rutgers, Iona, St. John’s, Columbia, Marist and Seton Hall this season.

(Release)

CAMBIDGE, Mass. - Harvard has posted its completed 2010 baseball schedule. Joe Walsh’s Crimson plays its first 22 games away from home in what will be a 43-game regular season schedule.

Harvard Head Coach Joe Walsh

7 p.m. that night to face the host Hatters team. The next day Harvard confronts Kansas State in a noon start.

Complete 2010 Harvard Schedule

The Crimson then embarks on a 10-day trip to Minnesota and the Carolinas. On March 12-14, Harvard plays single games at the Minneapolis Metrodome, opening against the host Gophers on the 12^th. Harvard defeated Minnesota, 9-1, during its last trip to the Dome in 2005. Harvard will also play South Dakota State (13^th) and Creighton (14^th) during the three-day tournament.

Harvard has a short turnaround following the Creighton game as the Crimson takes on Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C. at 3 p.m. on March 15.   The following day Harvard takes on Winthrop in Rock Hill, N.C. before playing two games in as many days at UNC – Greensboro. Harvard concludes its southern swing with a three-game set at Charlotte, March 19-21.

After six off days, Harvard travels to Hartford, Conn. for doubleheaders against Sacred Heart (March 27) and the University of Hartford (March 28). Following a midweek game at Holy Cross, March 31, Harvard gets into its Ivy League schedule with twinbills at Princeton (April 3) and Cornell (April 4).

Harvard’s home opener comes April 6 against Bryant University. That weekend, the Crimson hosts Penn and Columbia at O’Donnell Field as part of the five-game home stand.

The Crimson makes a short trip to Northeastern on April 13, one day before a first round game of the annual Beanpot at Boston College. The final round of the tournament is scheduled for April 20 at Fenway Park and Harvard will play another regularly-scheduled game against Boston College on the 21st.

Harvard hosts the Brown Bears in a four-game set at O’Donnell Field April 17-18 while traveling to Yale for four games the following weekend in its pivotal Rolfe Division games. The Crimson then plays home-and-home twinbills against Dartmouth with the first set being played at O’Donnell Field on May 1. The Ivy League Championship Series, pitting the Rolfe and Gehrig Division winners in a 2-of-3 series, will take place May 8-9.

(Release)

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth College head baseball coach Bob Whalen today announced the 2010 schedule for his defending Ivy League champion squad this spring, including eight games against teams that participated in the 2009 NCAA Regionals. The Big Green will open the season with excellent challenges on March 6 in Charlottesville, Va., where they will square off against Wright State and host Virginia, both of which played in the postseason with the Cavaliers advancing to the College World Series. The three-game trip will conclude the following day with another contest versus Virginia. Dartmouth's Bob Whalen In mid-March, Dartmouth will embark on an 11-game spring trip with the first stop in Winter Haven, Fla., where they will play three Big Ten schools — Illinois twice, Northwestern and Ohio State (a 2009 NCAA participant) — before wrapping up the trip with a three-game series at another 2009 NCAA team, Bethune-Cookman. Complete 2010 Dartmouth Schedule The Ivy season will get under way with a doubleheader on April 3 at Cornell, the team the Big Green defeated in the Ivy Championship series this past May. The first of 10 home dates will take place on April 6 against Williams to begin a 12-game homestand. Columbia, Penn and Yale will all make the trek to Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, as will New England rivals Quinnipiac, Holy Cross and Boston College of the ACC, the final NCAA team Dartmouth will play in the regular season. After the season wraps up on May 1-2 with doubleheaders against Harvard, the victors of the Rolfe and Gehrig Division will play in the Ivy Championship on May 8-9. Dartmouth is coming off a 27-18 campaign in 2009 when it won the Ivy Championship series by defeating Cornell, two games to one. The Big Green went 16-4 in league play, winning their first 11 games against conference foes. The 2009 Ivy League Player of the Year, Nick Santomauro, signed with the New York Mets this summer as a 10th-round draft choice, but Coach Whalen has his entire pitching staff back as well as four positional starters to defend their title. Senior left-hander Robert Young (5-4, 4.63 ERA) is the Big Green captain and anchors the staff with a pair of right-handers in All-Ivy second-teamer sophomore Kyle Hendricks (6-3, 4.84 ERA) and senior Ben Murray (6-1, 5.27 ERA) in the rotation as well. The Ivy leader in saves, junior right-hander Ryan Smith (2-3, 11 saves), returns already owning the single-season and career marks for saves at Dartmouth. Offensively, sophomore shortstop Joe Sclafani (.339 BA/.417 OBA/.477 SLG) is the Big Green’s leading returning hitter and provides excellent defense up the middle. He combines with junior second baseman Jeff Onstott (.308/.427/.497) to make up the league’s foremost double-play combination. A pair of senior outfielders in Jim Wren (.325/.374/.506) and Brett Gardner (.314/.419/.500) return to help give Dartmouth a strong nucleus in its offensive attack. (Release)

Red Storm schedule features 55 games, including 24 at home

St. John's Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer

Complete 2010 St. John’s Schedule (PDF)

The Red Storm will open the season with a three-game set at New Orleans beginning on Feb. 19. The series will mark the first time that the teams have met since St. John’s took a pair of games from the Privateers in 1989.

The schedule continues with three games as part of the second annual Big Ten-BIG EAST Challenge. After opening against Minnesota on Feb. 26, St. John’s will play Michigan on Feb. 27 and conclude play in the challenge against Illinois on Feb. 28.

St. John’s will then embark on a seven-game road trip that will take the team through Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia in a span of 10 days. The Red Storm will play three games at East Tennessee State from March 5-7 before taking on North Carolina for one game on March 10. St. John’s will conclude the trip with a three-game set at Liberty from March 12-14, the first-ever meetings between the Red Storm and the Flames.

The Red Storm then returns to Queens for a five-game home stand, beginning with the March 16 home-opener against Fairfield. After three games against Albany from March 19-21, St. John’s will host Columbia on March 23.

BIG EAST play opens for St. John’s with a three-game set at Pittsburgh from March 26-28. The Red Storm then hosts LIU for one midweek game on March 30, before hosting Seton Hall for three games. St. John’s and the Pirates will play a double-header on April 1 before a single game on April 3.

After traveling to Wagner for an April 7 contest, the Red Storm will play four-straight home games beginning with a three-game set with West Virginia from April 7-9 and ending with a game against Hofstra on April 14.

St. John’s takes to the road for a three-game series at Cincinnati from April 16-18 before returning home for five games in Queens beginning with a midweek game against Princeton on April 20. Following an April 21 game against Fordham, the Red Storm hosts Georgetown for three games from April 23-25.

Following an April 27 contest at NYIT and a home game against FDU on April 28, the Red Storm heads to Notre Dame for a three-game series from April 30-May 2.

The Red Storm returns home to host Iona on May 4 before welcoming USF for three games from May 7-9. St. John’s closes out play at home on May 11 against NYIT.

St. John’s will play its final seven games on the road, beginning with a three-game set at Louisville from May 14-16. Following a single game at Boston College on May 18, the Red Storm concludes regular season play with three games at Rutgers from May 20-22.

(Release)