Fighting Irish will play six games against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

Complete Notre Dame 2010 Schedule (PDF)

Irish Head Coach Dave Schrage

In all, Notre Dame will play six games (Louisville, Ohio State, Gonzaga and Kansas State) against teams that reached the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

The Irish will open the 2010 season with a two-game series against Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 19-20. The Irish and Delta Devils will first play on the MVSU campus on Friday before travelling to Pearl, Miss. for a meeting at Trustmark Park – home of the Mississippi Braves (Class AA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves) on Saturday. Notre Dame concludes the opening weekend of the season with a second game at Trustmark Park against Jackson State on Sunday.

The Irish then head down to Clearwater, Fla. for the second annual Big Ten-BIG EAST Baseball Challenge on Feb. 26-28. Notre Dame plays Illinois on Friday at Jack Russell Stadium, Ohio State on Saturday at Bright House Networks Field and Penn State on Sunday at the Naimoli Complex.

Notre Dame returns to Florida the following week for the Stetson Tournament during the first stage of its Spring Break trip (March 6-7). The Irish will play Harvard and Kansas State on the first day of the tournament before facing the host Hatters on Sunday.

Notre Dame will then head west for a mid-week, two-game series at UT-Pan American on March 9-10 before concluding the Spring Break schedule in the familiar surroundings of San Antonio (March 11-14) at Wolff Stadium. The Irish will face Bradley on Thursday, Pacific on Friday, Gonzaga on Saturday. Notre Dame will play a fourth game that weekend against one of the previous three schools depending on a round-robin finish.

Each of the 12 BIG EAST baseball teams is again scheduled to play nine others in three-game series (Notre Dame will not face Connecticut or Pittsburgh in the 2010 regular season). All but one of the series involving Notre Dame will be three-day series, with a nine-inning doubleheader scheduled for the second day of the two-day series at West Virginia (May 8-9). Fans are reminded that the road series versus Georgetown (Bethesda, Md./Povich Field; April 1-3) and Villanova (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Villanova Ballpark; May 14-16) are played at off-campus venues.

In addition to those games mentioned above, dates for Notre Dame’s other BIG EAST road series include March 26-28 at USF and April 16-18 at Seton Hall. The BIG EAST home series are April 9-11 vs. Rutgers, April 23-25 vs. Cincinnati, April 30-May 2 vs. St. John’s and May 20-22 vs. Louisville.

The BIG EAST Tournament again will be played under an eight-team format from May 26-30, at Bright House Networks Field in Clearwater, Fla. The format will mirror the College World Series with two four-team brackets playing double-elimination games on the first four days. The bracket winners then will meet in a single title game on May 30.

(Press Release)

Cards to play 31 home games, 41 games vs. BCS Conference foes & 12 games against 2009 NCAA teams

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.

TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR 2010 BIG TEN-BIG EAST BASEBALL CHALLENGE

Brighthouse Networks Field In Clearwater, FL

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Tickets for the second Big Ten-BIG EAST Baseball Challenge, hosted by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, will be available online at www.BigTenBIGEASTChallenge.com beginning at noon on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. The Challenge will take place February 26-28, 2010 at various current and former big league facilites. Those interested in purchasing tickets via phone can call 410-472-3500.

An all-tournament pass, which provides access to all 30 games of the Challenge, can be purchased for $25. Individual day passes are available for $10 and individual venue passes for Bright House Field and Dunedin Stadium are available for $5. An individual day pass will admit one spectator to any game on a given day at Progress Energy Park, the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex and Jack Russell Stadium. An individual venue pass will admit one spectator to any game on a given day at Bright House Field or Dunedin Stadium. Alumni groups, youth and social organizations also can sell all-tournament passes with a portion of the proceeds going to the selling organization. Information about fundraising opportunities is

Al Lang Stadium In St. Petersburg, FL

available at www.BigTenBIGEASTChallenge.com.

All 10 of the Big Ten’s baseball-playing institutions will once again compete in the 2010 Challenge, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue. The BIG EAST will send 10 teams to the 2010 event, as Louisville, Rutgers and Villanova will make their first appearances and will be joined by seven squads making a return trip – Cincinnati, Connecticut, Notre Dame, St. John’s, Seton Hall, USF and West Virginia. Games will be played daily in St. Petersburg at the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex, the former spring training practice facility of the Tampa Bay Rays, and Al Lang Stadium, the Rays’ former spring training game site. Games in Clearwater will take place at Jack Russell Stadium, once the spring home of the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Challenge will also feature nightly doubleheaders at Dunedin Stadium, spring home of the Toronto Blue Jays and Bright House

Knology Park In Dunedin, FL

Field, spring home of the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

There will be 10 games each day pitting Big Ten teams against BIG EAST representatives. Games are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday and run into the evening both days. Sunday’s games are also slated to start at 10 a.m., but will conclude in the afternoon so that traveling schools can return to their campuses that evening.

Full 2010 Big Ten/Big East Challenge Schedule

(Press Release)