Go East Horned Frogs…

Jim Schlossnagle

The news of the week is, obviously, TCU’s announcement that the school plans to join the Big East Conference. The move won’t take place until the 2012-2013 academic year, so Jim Schlossnagle’s baseball team still has two more seasons left to play in the Mountain West Conference. Football is the driving factor in the decision, but from a baseball standpoint the Horned Frogs immediately join Louisville as a power in their new conference. The biggest immediate impact the move will have on TCU is more travel in conference play. Not only is TCU located geographically farther from most of the current Big East baseball playing schools, but there are also more conference opponents to play. The MWC currently has seven baseball schools, while the Big East has 12. I’ll go out on a limb and say Schlossnagle won’t love the trade-off of the trip to San Diego State for Connecticut or New Jersey. We will have a more detailed look at the impact conference shuffling will have on college baseball conferences in the very near future.

College Baseball Goes Primetime…

If not for the TCU announcement, the biggest college baseball news of the last week would likely be the announcement that ESPNU will televise an SEC Baseball Thursday night “national game of the week” during the 2011 season. Defending national champion South Carolina kicks-off the broadcast schedule on April 7 when it travels to Tennessee. This probably won’t make people on the west coast or in other big conferences overly happy, but it’s a big step for college baseball. Like it or not, SEC baseball puts butts in the seats, so it makes sense to start a national broadcast venture with the conference that generates the most revenue. Thursday night broadcasts should also give college baseball optimal exposure. Thursdays are typically Major League Baseball “getaway days”, meaning there are more afternoon games being played at MLB ballparks on those days. That also means the college games on ESPNU will have less competition when trying to draw-in the casual college baseball fan for the 7:30 pm ET broadcasts. Hopefully, bigger ratings numbers now for the SEC games will lead to more opportunities for ACC, Big 12 and Pac 10 teams to get more regular season exposure in the future.

How About A Side Of Garrido…

Augie Garrido

Preseason dinners have become a fundraising tradition for college baseball teams around the country. Many teams have been able to sell tickets to a dinner that features a prominent alum or notable MLB player or manager to help their under funded programs, but here’s one I haven’t seen before. Sacramento State won’t have a Big League manager like Bruce Bochy or a current player like Dallas Braden. Instead, Reggie Christianson’ s Hornet Baseball Diamond Dinner fill feature arguably the biggest name in college baseball-Augie Garrido. The Texas head coach will be the keynote speaker for the January 7, 2011 event. Only 500 tickets to the dinner will be sold. December 29 in the deadline to RSVP.

Three ‘Lopes To Lobos…

Last week we had a note about three high school teammates from Lake Wales, FL who had all signed Division One letters of intent to play baseball in the SEC. Now how about three junior college teammates who have all signed to play at the same Division One school. Lamar (Colorado) Community College pitchers Brandon Ward-Hersee, Shane Zaruba and Arturo Maltos-Garcia have all signed to play for Ray Birmingham at New Mexico next year. The trio combined to go 18-4 for Scott Crampton’s Runnin’ ‘Lopes last year, while Ward-Hersee set a new NJCAA record with 25 saves. LCC is the same school that sent Willy Kesler to New Mexico after the 2007 season. Kesler led the Lobos with six wins and three complete games last year to help UNM end a 48-year NCAA Tournament drought.

Keep Cleaning House…

We found a couple more college baseball renovation projects to report this week. Duke has installed Astro Turf GameDay Grass at the nearly 80-year old Jack Coombs Field. New lighting and fencing was installed at the park as well. The team practiced on the new surface for the first time just before Thanksgiving. Duke will continue to use Jack Coombs for midweek games in 2011 and play weekend games at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Meanwhile, Eastern Kentucky has made nearly $100,000 in renovations to Turkey Hughes Field. The outfield was graded and sodded, while a brick wall was extended to fully enclose the outfield. Synthetic turf was installed on the infield of the facility last year.

3…Weekend wins over Stanford by Texas.  The Longhorns had dropped 2 of 3 games at home to New Mexico on opening weekend, while the Cardinal had started the season with a home 3-game sweep of Rice.

20-5…Combined score of Texas’ three wins.

1…Home run by Longhorn DH Russell Moldenhauer in the series.  The single longball surpasses his 2009 regular season total.  All four of Moldenhauer’s home runs last season were at the College World Series.

Jason Mitchell (UTA photo)

0…Hits allowed in five innings of relief by UT pitcher Cole Green.  He fanned 6 with no walks in the series finale.

18…Strikeouts by UT Arlington pitcher Jason Mitchell in Friday’s win over Missouri State.  Mitchell lost a no-hitter with one out to go in the game, which the Mavericks won 1-0 in 14 innings.   The 18 Ks breaks a school and Southland Conference record.  He struck out at least two batters in all but the 8th inning (1).

0…Runs allowed in 5 innings of relief in that same game by Arlington reliever Adam Boydston, who fanned 8 himself with just one walk and one hit allowed.

2…Wins in three games  by TCU at Cal State Fullerton over the weekend.

4…Home losses by the Titans already this season.

8…Home losses by Fullerton in 2009.

2…Losses in his first two starts by Cal State Fullerton pitcher Daniel Renken after allowing 3 ER in 6 IP in Friday’s loss to the Horned Frogs.

3…Losses by Renken all of last year.

2…Wins by #19 Coastal Carolina over #4 UC Irvine on Saturday in Myrtle Beach, SC.

9…Runs in the 8^th inning of game two of the doubleheader by the Chanticleers to beat the Anteaters 13-6.

2…Combined losses by Irvine pitchers Daniel Bibona and Eric Pettis in Saturday’s twin bill.

3…Combined losses by Bibona and Pettis in 2009.

109…Pitches thrown in 5 1/3 IP by Bibona in his loss.

119…Pitches thrown in 6 2/3 IP by Pettis in his loss.

5…RBIs by Coastal Carolina catcher Jose Iglesias in the doubleheader sweep.  He was 6-for-8 at the plate in the games.

6…Runs scored by Irvine in the 8th inning on Sunday to beat James Madison 15-9 for their only win in Myrtle Beach.  In addition to their losses to Coastal Carolina the Anteaters also fell to North Carolina State.

Greg Peavey (OSU photo)

8…Strikeouts and earned runs allowed in 3 ½ innings by Tennessee’s Bryan Morgado in Friday’s 17-1 loss

to Oregon State.

0…Runs allowed with 9 strikeouts by Oregon State’s Greg Peavey in Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Vols.  Peavey allowed just three hits with one walk in his first win of the season.

0.64…Peavey’s ERA in his first 14 innings pitched this season.

9…Strikeouts in 6 innings by Louisville pitcher Thomas Royse in Friday’s 2-0 win over Michigan.

10…Strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings by Todd McInnis in 26th ranked Southern Mississippi’s 8-2 loss to LeMoyne.

2 of 3…Games Southern Miss. dropped to LeMoyne after falling 12-11 in the series finale.

20…Runners left on base by the Golden Eagles in the pair of defeats.

5…RBIs by Dolphin LF Chris Edomonson in the 12-11 win over USM.

84…Runs scored by Arizona State in its 7-0 start to the season.

18…Runs allowed by the Sun Devils (two unearned) for a 2.36 staff ERA.

15…Runs and hits by Georgia Tech in Saturday’s 15-0 win over Xavier.

1…Win over a top 10 team in the history of Xavier baseball after Sunday’s 7-6 win over #4 Georgia Tech.

4 & 3…Respective errors and unearned runs allowed by the Yellow Jackets in their first loss of 2010.

13…Errors in three games committed by Notre Dame en-route to a 1-2 weekend at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.

Maine's Jeffrey Gibbs

6…Of those errors committed by the Fighting Irish in Sunday’s 8-7 10-inning win over Penn State.

1…Win this season for Maine (1-5) after Saturday’s 5-3 upset of #12 North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

1…Career win for Black Bear pitcher Jeffrey Gibbs, who earned the win vs. the Tar Heels.  He struckout seven and allowed 2 ER in 5 1/3 IP.

2…Career starts by Gibbs-a 6’4-190 lb. freshman from Toronto, Ontario.

12…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Virginia sophomore Danny Hultzen in a 13-0 win over Rhode Island.  The lefty allowed no runs and no walks on two hits to improve to 2-0.

43…Runs scored by the Cavs in their 3-game sweep of URI while allowing just 7 runs to improve to 6-1.

Manhattan's John Soldinger

0…Runs allowed in 4 IP by Manhattan freshman reliever John Soldinger in Sunday’s 12-7 win over the 10th ranked Miami Hurricanes.

7…Earned runs allowed in 5 IP by Jasper starting pitcher Mike Gazzola who got credit for the win after exiting with his team leading 9-5.

7 & 9…Combined runs scored and RBIs, respectively, by Manhattan 2-5 batters Mark Onorati, Mike McCann, Chad Salem, and Austin Sheffield in the upset of the Hurricanes.  The quartet also combined to hit .500 (10-for-20).

6-0…Washington State’s record after Sunday’s 10-7 win over Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX.  It’s Wazzou’s best start since going 9-0 to start the 1988 season.

Brian Fletcher (Auburn photo)

4, 11 & 13…Home runs, RBIs & runs scored by New Mexico State shortstop Ryan Aguayo.  The junior hit .440 with an 1.120 slugging percentage in six games last week.

3…Of Aguayo’s home runs that came in one game-a 17-5 win over Akron.  He hit half of the Aggies’ 6 HRs in the contest.

4 & 9…Home runs and RBIs by Eastern Kentucky’s Anthony Ottrando in the Colonel’s season-opening 3-game series vs. Western Carolina.

11…RBIs with 3 home runs in 3 games by Auburn’s Brian Fletcher.  His 10th inning walk-off home run gave the Tigers a Friday win over Boston College.

15…Strikeouts in 7 IP by Ole Miss lefty Drew Pomeranz in a win over Oakland.  He allowed just a run on a solo HR.

8-0…The deficit top-ranked LSU faced in the middle of the 6th inning at home Saturday vs. William & Mary. The Tigers scored 8 runs in the bottom of the 6th and then added two more runs in the 7th to win 10-9.

22…Years since LSU had overcome as big a deficit.  They came back from 10 runs down to beat Ole Miss in 1988.

13 1/3…Total innings pitched in two outings last week by Kansas pitcher Cameron Selik.  The junior allowed just one earned run with 10 strikeouts vs. Eastern Michigan and Sacramento State.

CINCINNATI – Xavier University baseball head coach Scott Googins has announced the 2010 schedule, a slate that includes early season trips to Tennessee (Feb. 19-21), Georgia Tech (Feb. 26-28), Duke (Mar. 3) and Wake Forest (Mar. 5-7). The Musketeers will face six teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, including Super Regional participant Louisville on March 16.

“We are really excited about the non-conference schedule that includes several teams with well known tradition,” commented Googins. “The guys are looking forward to playing at several great venues this season and those non-conference

Musketeer head coach Scott Googins

teams will prepare us for our conference play. We’re excited about the atmosphere of where we’ll be playing, against teams in the ACC, SEC and Big XII, all good baseball conferences and good teams in those conferences.”

Complete 2010 Xavier Schedule

XU will open the season with 10 straight road games before its home opener on March 9 against LeMoyne. The Musketeers will take on tournament participant Missouri in Columbia Mar. 12-16 followed by a single game at Louisville and then will host Oakland for a three-game homestand Mar. 19-21. Xavier is set to play at Kentucky (Mar. 23) and at Indiana (Mar. 24) before opening Atlantic 10 conference play at Saint Louis Mar. 26-28.

“We have young arms but they have to be able to produce and we are definitely hoping to build off success from last year,” Googins mentioned. “It’s hard to look that far ahead, to the A-10 schedule, but I think we will be in the mix. Hopefully our guys will be up to the challenge.”

The Musketeers will play nine three-game A-10 series this season, including La Salle (Apr. 9-11), Duquesne (Apr. 16-18), Charlotte (May 7-9) and Massachusetts (May 14-16) at home. Other than SLU, Xavier will travel to Richmond (Apr. 2-4), Rhode Island (Apr. 23-25), Dayton (Apr. 30-May 2) and Saint Joseph’s (May 20-22) to round out its conference schedule.

Other teams in the Musketeers’ schedule in 2010 include Campbell University, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky and Ohio. XU will once again be participating in the second annual Joe Nuxhall Classic Apr. 13-14, which will be hosted by Miami (Ohio) this season. Xavier will defend its 2009 title at the Classic in 2010 against the field that includes Cincinnati, Miami and Wright State.

(Release)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue baseball team will open its 2010 schedule at the second annual Big Ten/Big East Challenge in St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Fla., and host 23 games in West Lafayette over the course of the spring.

Including the trip to Florida, the Boilermakers will begin the season on a 15-game road swing that will take them Carbondale, Ill., to face Southern Illinois, Evansville, Ind., to play three different teams at a neutral venue, Richmond, Ky., to square off against Eastern Kentucky and finally Athens, Ohio, to face the Bobcats of Ohio University.

Complete 2010 Purdue Schedule

Purdue will open its home slate with a non-conference contest against IPFW on March 23 and will also host Illinois State and Chicago State during a six-game home stand.

A midweek trip to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri will close out the month of March and pave the way for the Big Ten schedule.

The Boilers will host Minnesota, a 2009 NCAA regional participant, on the first weekend of April to being conference play, and will also welcome Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan State to West Lafayette for league play.

Big Ten road trips include visits to Michigan, Big Ten Tournament champions Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. The Boilers will not face 2009 Big Ten regular season champions Ohio State.

Coming off a 25-26 season, a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten and an appearance in the league tournament, the Boilermakers return eight position players, all three weekend starting pitchers and a bevy of talent in the bullpen.

(Release)

“Coach Greg Van Zant has put together one of his most competitive schedules to date,” Pastilong said. “We are looking forward to another year of exciting baseball that features several quality opponents and some very challenging early-season tournaments.”

West Virginia opens the season with three competitive tournaments. The Mountaineers start off with the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway, S.C., featuring games against 2009 NCAA Tournament qualifier Coastal Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia Tech on Feb. 19-21.

WVU then makes a trip to the second annual Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge in Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Fla., from Feb.

Greg Van Zant (WVU Photo)

26-March 1. West Virginia will compete against reigning Big Ten champion Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and will play an additional game against Purdue.

Complete 2010 West Virginia Schedule

The final early-season tournament is the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C., from March 5-7. West Virginia faces Western Carolina, then battles 2009 Super Regional qualifier East Carolina before finishing with Illinois.

“All three of our tournaments are ranked as some of the top tournaments in the country,” Van Zant said. “We’re going to see some real good teams early in the season, and we’re looking forward to playing against them. We’re really going to be challenged these first 10 games.”

The Mountaineers make a return trip to Charleston, W.Va., to play Eastern Kentucky in the Mountaineer Diamond Classic at Appalachian Power Park on April 13. Last season’s contest in Southern West Virginia against Kentucky featured a capacity crowd of 2,452 that saw WVU defeat the Wildcats, 10-7.

“We always look forward to playing in our state capital,” Van Zant added. “Last year we had a great turnout and a huge win over Kentucky. We can’t wait to return to Charleston and play a different opponent in Eastern Kentucky, which is a strong program out of the Ohio Valley Conference.”

WVU’s Big East schedule includes five home series against NCAA Super Regional qualifier Louisville (April 16-18), Notre Dame (May 8-9), Big East postseason runner-up Connecticut (April 1-3), Pitt (April 23-25) and Villanova (May 20-22). The Mountaineers will play Seton Hall (March 26-28), St. John’s (April 9-11), Cincinnati (April 30-May 2) and Georgetown (May 14-16) on the road.

“The Big East schedule is always difficult, and this year we’ve got five of our opponents at home,” Van Zant mentioned. “It’s a big plus to have that extra weekend at home and all our games in the conference will be tough. We do feel that we have a real attractive home schedule.”

Also mixed into the non-conference portion is another matchup against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Maryland on April 7 in College Park, Md. The Mountaineers and Terrapins have played each other in five of the last eight seasons.

WVU plays host to a two-game series against defending MEAC champion and NCAA Tournament participant Bethune-Cookman from May 11-12.

West Virginia finished 37-18 last season, its best overall mark since 1998. The Mountaineers finished third in the BIG EAST and amassed 17 conference victories, its second-most since joining the BIG EAST in 1996.

Last year’s squad also set school records for batting average (.360), RBIs (491), doubles (161), extra base hits (242) and runs scored (525).

(Release)

The Panthers, who are the defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champions, are slated to play three-game series at Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 19-21), Belmont (Feb. 26-28), UAB (March 5-7) and South Florida (March 12-14) before league play opens the weekend of March 27-28.

Eastern hosts Austin Peay (April 2-3), Morehead State (April 10-11), UT Martin (May 1-2) and Southeast Missouri State (May 21-22) for OVC weekend series. The Panthers travel to Eastern Kentucky (March 27-28), Tennessee Tech (April 17-18), Murray State (April 24-25) and Jacksonville State (May 8-9) this spring.

The six-team OVC Tournament (May 26-30) moves to Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn., for the first time this season. The minor league stadium is home to the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, the AA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Eastern also plays Belmont and Bradley (May 18) in minor league stadiums this spring.

The midweek portion of the schedule is highlighted by home-and-home series with Illinois, Southern Illinois and Chicago State. The home game against Illinois (April 21) has been moved to Grimes Field at Peterson Park in Mattoon, where EIU defeated the Illini in 2008.

The home opener at Coaches Stadium is slated for Tuesday, March 23 against Chicago State.

For the second year in a row, the Panthers open their spring break trip (March 12-19) in Tampa, Fla. Last season, Eastern won a four-team tournament hosted by South Florida the opening weekend of spring break. After its

EIU Head Coach Jim Schmitz

three-game series at USF this year, EIU is expected to take on Army, Akron, Indiana and Ohio State in neutral-site games in Bradenton, Fla.

Complete 2010 Eastern Illinois Schedule

“It is another demanding schedule, playing 22 of our first 23 games on the road,” Schmitz said. “The NCAA moved the start of the season up one week, which allowed us to play another series on the road. We play seven teams that were ranked in the Top 100 of the RPI ranking in 2009. Our spring break is going to be our biggest test, as we play a three-game set with USF and then finish the trip with Indiana and Ohio State. The last few years we have made the schedule tougher in order to improve our RPI. It is the only way we can possibly get an at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament).

The weekend of May 14-16, EIU is scheduled to host Indiana State and SIU Edwardsville. The Panthers will play ISU on May 14 and SIUE on May 15 and 16. The Sycamores and Cougars will also square off at Coaches Stadium at noon on Saturday, May 15.

Eastern is slated to open the season in Hammond, La., against Southeastern Louisiana for the third year in a row. The Panthers won two-of-three last year after getting swept in 2008.

Eastern last visited Belmont during the 2007 spring break trip and last played at UAB in 2003, participating in a four-team tournament.

For the third year in a row, EIU is scheduled to take on Missouri at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon, Mo. The midweek game at the home of the Frontier League’s River City Rascals is expected to be played with wood bats.

(Release)

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina third-year head baseball coach Bobby Moranda today released his squad’s 2010 schedule which includes six teams that made the NCAA Baseball Championships a season ago, three of which were number one seeds. The 56-game slate features 28 home dates, three-game series with each Southern Conference foe and non-conference meetings with perennial powers Clemson, Charlotte, East Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

The season will culminate with the return of the 2010 SoCon Baseball Championship to Riley Park in Charleston, S.C., May 26-30.

“This challenging non-conference schedule will help us prepare for a very competitive Southern Conference slate,” said Moranda. “We are looking forward to the tournament atmosphere during the Keith LeClair Classic at East

WCU Head Coach Bobby Moranda

Carolina. Our players and coaches are honored to participate in an event that was named for one of our most respected alum. I am a big believer in a strong schedule that will challenge our players to execute the game of baseball at the highest possible level each and every time they take the field.”

Complete 2010 Western Carolina Schedule

Western Carolina will open its 2010 season at home at Ronnie G. Childress Field at Hennon Stadium on Friday, Feb. 19 as it welcomes the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs to town for an afternoon game. The two will complete the three-game series in Forest City, N.C., at McNair Field, the home of the Coastal Plain League member, Forest City Owls, Feb. 20-21.

Additional early-season, non-conference foes visiting Cullowhee include Eastern Kentucky – Moranda’s alma mater – on Feb. 26-28, with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville coming to town for a two-game set March 9-10. It will be the first meeting between the two since 1978.

Between the EKU and SIU-Edwardsville dates, the Catamounts will again travel to Greenville, N.C., to participate in the Seventh Annual Keith LeClair Classic at East Carolina’s Clark-LeClair Stadium. The three-day tournament includes the host Pirates and Catamounts, as well as meetings with West Virginia and Illinois. The tournament is named in honor of WCU Hall of Famer, former head coach at WCU and ECU, Keith LeClair, who passed away in July of 2006 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Western hosts first-time foe, New York Tech, in Cullowhee at the beginning of April.

The Catamounts will also have home-and-home, non-conference meetings with Charlotte, UNC Asheville and High Point. Also, after a meeting in Knoxville on April 7, former WCU head coach Todd Raleigh will bring his Tennessee Volunteers to Childress Field/Hennon Stadium in Cullowhee on Wednesday, April 21.

“It is a testament to our program’s great tradition that Coach Raleigh and a very talented Tennessee squad will visit Cullowhee in 2010. Over the last two seasons, we have attracted BCS conference schools such as Clemson, BYU, Georgia Tech and now UT to Cullowhee. I know our fans will be very excited to welcome Todd back for this mid-week match-up,” Moranda added.

Other headline road trips include visiting Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 2 and Georgia on Wednesday, April 28.

Western Carolina, which finished 35-22 overall and 19-10 in SoCon play a season ago and won 18 of its 30 home games, will host conference opponents College of Charleston (March 26-28), Wofford (April 9-11), UNC Greensboro (April 30-May 2) and Furman (May 7-10). The Catamounts will wrap-up their 2010 regular season slate by hosting Davidson on May 20-22 before traveling to Charleston for the conference championship.

SoCon road trips this season include visiting The Citadel for its conference opener, March 12-14, with a trip to Boone and arch-rival, Appalachian State, the following weekend (March 19-21). Other road three-game conference series include at Elon (April 16-18), Georgia Southern (April 23-28) and Samford (May 14-16).

Western Carolina will resume individual preparations for the 2010 season on January 11, with the first official team practice scheduled for February 1, per NCAA regulations.

(Release)

Bowling Green State University baseball has announced the release of its 2010 Falcon baseball schedule which features matchups with teams in the Big East, SEC and Big Ten conferences.  Those games compliment a full MAC schedule.  A total of 37 of 56 games will be played outside of the state of Ohio.

The Falcons will waste no time in finding tough competition to groom them for the upcoming season. To begin the 2010 campaign, Danny Schmitz will take his team on a road trip to the Bluegrass State for six games to begin the season.

The Falcons start the year Feb. 19-21 in Louisville, KY to open the season against the defending Big East regular season and tournament champion Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals finished 2009 just three wins short of 50 for the

BGSU Head Coach Danny Schmitz

season and defending their home field with an 81 percent success rate. The Cardinal pitching staff led the Big East in team ERA (4.32) as well as in homeruns (85) and total bases (1,124). Last year UL swept BG in a three game set by a combined score of 33-12.

Complete 2010 Bowling Green Schedule

The road trip through Ohio’s southern neighbor continues with three games against the University of Kentucky. Though UK baseball finished fifth in the SEC East Division, College Baseball Newspaper has tabbed the Wildcats as having the sixth-best recruiting class in the nation, an honor the program has received two years in a row.

To open the month of March the Falcons will head further south to the former home of the Cleveland Indians spring training program, Winter Haven, Florida. The Falcons will spend nine days (March 5-14) in Winter Haven and play as many games during that span. Only two of the eight opposing teams return for this year’s Russ Matt Central Florida Invitational with Indiana and Sacred Heart, but six very skilled teams will visit to provide the Falcons some tough competition.

The Falcons will take the field against Northeastern, who finished the 2009 season with a 28-25 overall mark, to open their slate during the invitational. The next three days will feature match ups against Rhode Island, Butler and Sacred Heart. Those three teams sport a combined record of 77-89-1 from a season ago with Rhode Island garnering the most success following a 37-20-1 campaign a season ago. After enjoying an off-day at the mid-way point of the week long trip, the Falcons will head back into battle against the Ivy League’s Yale University for a double-header against the Bulldogs. North Dakota State and Indiana will round out the schedule for the duration of the tournament before the Brown and Orange return to Bowling Green.

Last year, the Falcons finished 5-3 during their stay in Winter Haven with signature wins over Bradley in extra innings and against 2010 recurring opponent Eastern Kentucky University. Of the two teams that the Falcons will play in back-to-back years in the tournament, Indiana and Sacred Heart, the Falcons were 1-1 in games against those opponents having lost to the Hoosiers 15-7 and defeating the Pioneers in a pitcher’s duel, 1-0.
Bowling Green will bring baseball back to northwest Ohio when they open their home schedule with a local rival in the Findlay Oilers. The Falcons will engage in a battle for I-75 South on March 16 at Warren E. Stellar Field for the home opener. Bowling Green has won their last ten home openers at Warren Steller Field and has not lost since a 7-6 defeat to the Wright State Raiders in the 1999 season opener.

Schmitz and Company continue to yield southern hospitality as the team travels east straight from EKU to play another Big East team in the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Mountaineers finished third in the Big East last season and only lost five games at home. The Falcons had not played a Big East team since 2008 when the Falcons fell to Villanova 10-8 in Bradenton, FL. This year, the teams will meet at a neutral site at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Of the early non-conference schedule, head coach Danny Schmitz said, “This is probably the toughest schedule we’ve put together. It is a schedule that we wanted to challenge our team with. We’re doing that for a reason. We have to get ourselves ready for conference play because the Mid-American Conference is an outstanding baseball conference.”

Schmitz continued, “We have high expectations [of the players]. You still have to earn it each day you cross the white lines. This schedule is going to be very, very competitive. We hope our kids are going to be up to the task.”

With their return back to Falcon country, BGSU will open its conference slate with MAC West foe Central Michigan on March 24. It will be the only time the Chippewas and the Falcons will play in 2010 but will ready Bowling Green for a home weekend set with Northern Illinois beginning two days later.

Bowling Green will step out of conference again to play Atlantic-10 power house Dayton for a single showdown to close out the month of March. The Dragons and Falcons have had three of their last five matchups cancelled due to weather since 2007. In those two matchups, the Dragons have come out on top both times. In their lone matchup in 2007, the Falcons took the Dragons to 12 innings before losing 8-7 in an extra-inning thriller.

The next four contests between April 2 and April 6 will take the Falcons into Michigan for a three-game series against Eastern Michigan. BG will then hop on the bus to East Lansing, MI. for its first contest with a Big Ten opponent in the Michigan State Spartans. Since 2001, Bowling Green has a 15-19 record when playing in the state of Michigan with nearly as many weather cancellations as wins.

The Falcons will then embark on their final game with a Michigan school against Michigan on April 14. Last year the Falcons beat the Wolverines 8-3 after not having played them since the 2002 season when the Falcons lost 4-3.

Right across the border heading back into Ohio, MAC rival Toledo will be waiting for the visiting Falcons for a weekend series to be held in the Glass City. Bowling Green possess 102 wins against Toledo over their 88 year rivalry. That stands as the most wins BGSU has over any school they have played in program history.

After back-to-back home games against Dayton and Western Michigan on April 20-21, the Falcons hit the road again, this time going to Athens for three games against Ohio and then heading to northeast Ohio for the season finale versus Cleveland State.

Six consecutive Mid-American conference home games follow on the Falcon schedule when Bowling Green plays host to the Miami Redhawks and Akron Zips to close out April heading into the first week of May (April 30-May 9).

For the first time since April 26, 2006 the Falcons will head back to South Bend, Ind. for a single out-of-conference game with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The last time Bowling Green took the trip to South Bend the Falcons outscored the Irish 11-8 on their home field. That win had broken a ten game winless streak against Notre Dame since 1990.

Bowling Green then heads to Kent, Ohio to take on the once nationally ranked Golden Flashes, who had taken two-of-three from the Falcons in 2009. Kent State finished one game behind the Falcons in the MAC standings last year after ranking second in the conference in team pitching as well as in team batting, finishing behind Bowling Green.

Another Horizon League team will come to the Falcons’ territory when the Penguins of Youngstown State come to Steller Field on May 18. Despite a 16-35 record a season ago, the Penguins return six of eight regular position players from their starting lineup and all three of their starting pitchers from last season.

“I think year in and year out there are some outstanding teams,” said Schmitz on the quality of MAC baseball this year. “Kent State as well as OU will be very strong again this year. Miami (OH) was a little young last year, but they’ve gained a lot of experience. We finished off the season with Akron and had a heck of a battle with them for three games and we expect Akron to be very much improved. You really have to bring the ‘A-game’ this year.”

This year the Mid-American Conference Tournament will be held in Chillicothe, Ohio at VA Memorial Stadium. Should the Falcons win a bid to be in field of eight MAC teams to participate in the tournament, they will return to the same field that they are scheduled to play West Virginia earlier in the season.

(Release)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville baseball head coach Dan McDonnell released the Cardinals’ 2010 schedule on Thursday and it includes 31 games at Jim Patterson Stadium, 41 games against BCS Conference schools and 12 games against NCAA Regional teams from last year.

The Cards, which won swept the BIG EAST Conference and regular season titles and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional in 2009, will play seven games against Big Ten competition and six games against Southeastern Conference teams, including a three-game series at reigning SEC champion Ole Miss.

Louisville Head Coach Dan McDonnell

“The 2010 schedule features some great opponents in some great venues that should really challenge our squad each week,” said McDonnell, who is 135-63 in three seasons in Louisville, including three straight NCAA appearances and back-to-back BIG EAST Tournament titles in 2008 and 2009. “As in years past, we continue to put an emphasis on playing against the best competition in the nation by scheduling more than 40 games against teams from the BCS conferences, as well as numerous NCAA Regional caliber squads. And as always, we’ve made it a priority to take advantage of having one of the top home facilities in the nation by playing more than 30 games at Jim Patterson Stadium.”

Louisville will open the 2010 season at home on Feb. 19-21 with a three-game series against reigning Mid-American Conference champion Bowling Green at Jim Patterson Stadium and will follow that with a mid-week game at home against Morehead State on Feb. 23.

The Cardinals will then take to the road for the first time for their first appearance in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge hosted by St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission on Feb. 26-28. Louisville will play Michigan on Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Dunedin Stadium, spring training home for the Toronto Blue Jays, in the only night game on the opening day of the event, which will feature 10 games each day matching up teams from the Big Ten and BIG EAST.

Following the opener, the Cardinals will face Michigan State on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. ET at Jack Russell Stadium, the longtime spring headquarters for the Philadelphia Phillies, while Louisville’s finale will be against Minnesota, a 2009 NCAA Regional squad, on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. ET at the Naimoli Complex, former spring training host for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Cards will return home from Florida to host a five-game homestand at Jim Patterson Stadium. Louisville will host a mid-week game against Evansville (March 3), a three-game weekend series with NCAA Division I independent Le Moyne College (March 5-7) and a mid-week game against Indiana (March 9) in a rematch of the last year’s NCAA Regional first round game in Louisville. The Cardinals will play a return game against the Hoosiers on March 30 in Bloomington.

U of L will then return to the road for a three-game series in Oxford, Miss., against Ole Miss on March 12-14 in a match-up of reigning conference championship programs. It will also be a reunion for McDonnell, who served as an assistant coach at Ole Miss from 2001-06, and Cards’ senior first baseman Andrew Clark, who played one season for the Rebels before transferring to Louisville.

After hosting 2009 NCAA Regional team Xavier on March 15 for Elementary School Day at Patterson Stadium, the Cardinals will host their final non-conference weekend series on March 19-21 against Ball State.

Following a mid-week return game at Evansville on March 23, the Cards will the defense of their 2009 BIG EAST Conference title with a three-game series at home against Connecticut on March 26-28 at Jim Patterson Stadium. The series will be a rematch of last year’s BIG EAST Tournament title game, won by Louisville 11-3 in Clearwater, Fla.

Along with UConn, the Cardinals will host BIG EAST foes Villanova (April 1-3), Seton Hall (April 23-25), Rutgers (April 30-May 2) and St. John’s (May 14-16). Louisville will play four BIG EAST opponents on the road, including Pittsburgh (April 9-11), West Virginia (April 16-18), Georgetown (May 7-9) and Notre Dame (May 20-22).

The Cardinals will play the first of two games against rival Kentucky on April 6 in Lexington, while the Wildcats will visit Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville on April 28. U of L will also play two games against 2009 NCAA Regional squad Western Kentucky on April 14 in Bowling Green and on April 21 in Louisville and a mid-week home game against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky on May 18.

On May 4-5, Louisville will travel to Columbus, Ohio for a two-game, mid-week series against 2009 NCAA Regional participant Ohio State, while on May 11, the Cards will be in Nashville, Tenn., for a mid-week game at Vanderbilt in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Regional title game, which was won by Louisville 5-3.

The 2010 BIG EAST Championship is set for May 26-30 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla., where the Cardinals have won the last two tournament titles and have an 11-2 record overall. The 2010 NCAA Championship is set to begin on June 4 with regional play.

The 2010 Louisville squad returns seven position starters and most of its pitching staff from a team that finished the season ranked 14th in the nation after making the program’s second NCAA Super Regional appearance in McDonnell’s three years as the head coach.