Eastern Illinois 2010 Baseball Schedule

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eighteen home games and a return to Florida for the annual spring break trip highlights Eastern Illinois baseball’s 2010 schedule, unveiled by head coach Jim Schmitz.

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

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)

A Batch Of New 2010 College Baseball Schedules

Here are several more 2010 college baseball schedules we found this week.  We have also included season openers for each of the teams.  CLICK HERE to see our comprehensive list of links to 2010 schedules.

Bucknell:  Opens with four games @ VMI in Lexington, VA

Central Arkansas:  Opens by hosting two games vs. SIU Edwardsville and one game vs. Creighton in Conway, AR

Davidson:  Opens by hosting three games vs. Georgetown in Davidson, NC

Lafayette:  Opens with three games @ VMI Feb. 26, 27 & 28

Lehigh:  Opens in Wilmington, NC Feb. 26, 27 & 28 with a game each vs. UNC Wilmington and Liberty and two games vs. Morehead State

Lipscomb:  Opens with three games vs. Murray State

Mercer:  Opens by hosting four games vs. Morehead State in Macon, GA

Nicholls State:  Opens with three games @ Louisiana Lafayette

UNC Greensboro:  Opens with three games vs. Cleveland State

North Florida:  Opens with home games vs. Ohio State, Richmond & Florida A&M

Northwestern State:  Opens with three games @ Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS

Southeastern Louisiana:  Opens at home with three games vs. Eastern Illinois

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Louisville Baseball 2010 Schedule

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

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.

“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.