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MACOMB, Ill. – Western Illinois head baseball coach Mike Villano announced the 2010 baseball schedule, Thursday, Dec. 17.

The Fighting Leathernecks will face three opponents who participated in the 2009 NCAA Baseball Tournament including last year’s Big XII runner-up, the Oklahoma Sooners. Western’s schedule also features four teams ranked in the top 50 of the 2010 preseason RPI including the Sooners (22), Oklahoma State (25), Oral Roberts (32) and Missouri (33).

“Whether we play a school from a big conference like the Big XII or a school from a smaller conference we just want our guys to play hard,” Villano said. “We’ve got a lot of tough opponents this year and we have some tough travel dates too

Leatherneck head coach Mike Villano

but I think that will help our guys build a lot of character.”

Complete 2010 Western Illinois Schedule

The 2010 schedule begins with a doubleheader at Alabama State as part of a three-game series from Feb. 27-28. The Leathernecks then travel to Saint Louis for a single game against the Billikens on March 3 before traveling to Norman, Okla. to take part in the Sooner Classic from March 5-7. Western will face tournament-host Oklahoma on March 5 before a double-header against Stephen F. Austin on March 6. The Leathernecks will conclude the tournament with a single game against USF on March 7.

Western will travel back to Saint Louis for a single game tilt on March 9 before traveling to Missouri to play a single game against the Tigers on March 10. The Leathernecks continue their swing through the Big XII with a two game series at Oklahoma State from March 16-17.

The team then heads south for a three-game series at UAB from March 19-21 before facing Arkansas-Little Rock for two games from March 23-24. Western Illinois returns to the Midwest for a three-game series at Iowa from March 26-28.

Western’s home schedule opens up with a game against Coe College on March 31 before the team heads back to Iowa for a single game on April 6. The Leathernecks will then return to Macomb for an 11-game homestand beginning with a single game against Clarke College on April 7. The homestand continues as Western opens up Summit League play with a four-game series against North Dakota State (April 9-11) before welcoming Bradley for one game on April 14.

“It’s always nice to be at home for an extended period of time,” Villano said. “I think we’ll need that long homestand after being on the road for over a month. It’s always good for the team to be able to come back to a place that they know really well.”

The Leathernecks will then welcome another Summit League opponent for a four-game series when IPFW comes to town April 16-18. The homestand concludes with a game against Illinois College on April 20.

Western will hit the road again as it faces last year’s Summit League champion Oral Roberts in a four-game series from April 23-25. The Leathernecks continue Summit League play with a four-game home series against Oakland from April 30-May 2 before heading to Bradley for a single game on May 4.

Western will then travel south for the second time to take on conference foe Centenary in a four-game series from May 7-9 before returning home for a four-game series against Southern Utah from May 14-16. The Leathernecks will then travel to Davenport, Iowa for a neutral-site game against the Hawkeyes on May 18.

Western concludes its 2010 regular-season schedule with a four-game series at South Dakota State from May 20-22.

The Summit League Tournament will be held in Tulsa, Okla. from May 27-29 and features the top four teams from The Summit League.

(Release)

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Head coach Don Maines and the Long Island University baseball team announced the schedule for the 2010 season on Tuesday. The Blackbirds are slated to play 56 games during the 2010 campaign, highlighted by an early-season trip to Florida and a four-game series at Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech.

LIU head coach Don Maines

four games with Virginia Tech starting on March 5.

Complete 2010 Long Island Schedule

From there, Long Island will head to the sunny climes of Winter Haven, Fla., on March 12 for a nine-day, six-game road trip. There, the Blackbirds will take on Central Michigan, Army, Maryland-Baltimore County, North Dakota State, Dartmouth and NJIT. Long Island will return to Brooklyn for its first contest at LIU Field on March 23 when local rival Manhattan visits.

Northeast Conference play opens on March 26 when the Blackbirds visit their Staten Island neighbor Wagner for four games. Following a midweek, non-conference tilt at St. John’s on March 30, Long Island will host its first NEC series beginning on April 1 against Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Blackbirds will also host midweek games at LIU Field against Saint Peter’s (April 7) and Hofstra (May 4). Long Island will visit non-conference foes NYIT (April 13), Rider (April 21 and May 16) and Lafayette (April 28).

This season, Long Island will host NEC series against Sacred Heart, Monmouth and conference newcomer Bryant. The Blackbirds will be on the road against Quinnipiac, Mount St. Mary’s and Central Connecticut State, wrapping up the season in New Britain, Conn., with four games against the Blue Devils beginning on May 21.

The home series against Bryant, beginning on May 7, will be played at KeySpan Park, the Coney Island home of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones. The Blackbirds will also take on Le Moyne at KeySpan in a doubleheader on May 14.

(Release)

MINNEAPOLIS– The Minnesota baseball team released its 2010 schedule on according to an announcement by Golden Gopher head coach John Anderson.

Golden Gopher Head Coach John Anderson

NCAA Super Regionals in 2009 and four out of conference opponents that were part of NCAA Regional play in 2009.

Complete 2010 Minnesota Schedule

The Golden Gophers will start things off when they bring back the Pro-Alumni Game for the first time since 2007. It will take place on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 6:05 p.m.

Minnesota will open up the season against Akron (19-33, 12-15 in 2009) in Fort Myers, Fla. on Feb. 19-21. The next week, the Golden Gophers will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla. where they will compete in the Big East-Big Ten Challenge. Minnesota will face St. John’s (30-22, 16-11) in Dunedin on Friday, Feb. 26, Connecticut (36-24, 14-13) in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Feb. 27 and 2009 Super Regional participant Louisville in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Feb. 28.

The Golden Gophers will return home to host the Dairy Queen Classic on Mar. 5-7. Minnesota will welcome Loyola Marymount (30-29, 13-8), Northwestern (14-35, 5-17) and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Oklahoma State (34-24, 9-16) to the 26th annual installment of the Dairy Queen Classic. Minnesota will face Loyola Marymount on Friday, Mar. 5 at 6:35 p.m., Oklahoma State on Saturday, Mar. 6 at 6:35 p.m. and Northwestern on Sunday, Mar. 7 at 3:05 p.m.

Following the Dairy Queen Classic, the Golden Gophers will host Division III National Champion St. Thomas (41-13) at the Metrodome on Wednesday, Mar. 10. Minnesota will host the Metrodome Tournament on Mar. 12-14. The Golden Gophers will welcome Creighton (31-25, 14-9), Harvard (13-28, 10-10) and South Dakota State (26-30, 17-10) to the Metrodome that weekend. Minnesota will host Harvard on Friday, Mar. 12, Creighton on Saturday, Mar. 13 and South Dakota State on Sunday, Mar. 14.

After the Metrodome Classic, Minnesota will embark on six-game road trip to Alabama and Samford. The Golden Gophers will face 2009 NCAA Regional participant Alabama (37-21, 18-11) in a two-game series on Mar. 16-17. Minnesota will then head to Samford (17-35, 9-21) for a four-game series on Mar. 18-21.

Minnesota will host North Dakota State (16-28, 10-14) at the Metrodome on Mar. 23-24. The Golden Gophers will host a three-game series against Louisiana Tech (29-22, 13-11) on Mar. 26-28. The Saturday game will be played at Target Field at 1:05 p.m., while the Friday and Sunday games will be at the Metrodome.

The Golden Gophers will open up Big Ten play on the road at Purdue on Apr. 2-4. Minnesota will return home to the Metrodome for the first Big Ten series against Michigan State on Apr. 16-18.

Minnesota’s other road series in the Big Ten will be against Northwestern (Apr. 16-18), Iowa (Apr. 30-May 2) and 2009 Big Ten Regular-Season Champion Ohio State (May 20-22). The Golden Gophers will have home conference series at the Metrodome against 2009 Big Ten Tournament Champion Indiana (Apr. 23-25), Michigan (May 7-9) and Penn State (May 14-16).

The Golden Gophers will also play midweek games during the conference season against Concordia-Moorhead (Mar. 31), Hamline (Apr. 6), South Dakota State (at home Apr. 14, on the road Apr. 20), North Dakota State (on the road Apr. 28) and at Kansas State (May 4-5).

Minnesota returns 20 players who saw action from a 2009 squad that finished 40-19, finished second in the Big Ten regular-season at 17-6, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship and advanced to the final game of the NCAA Regionals in LSU.

(Release)

Golden Eagles To Play Well Rounded Slate In 2010

Oral Roberts Head Coach Rob Walton

set March 5, 6 & 7.

Complete 2010 Oral Roberts Schedule

Other non-conference home opponents include: three games vs. Western Michigan, TCU, Wichita State, Missouri State,  and Arkansas Little Rock.  Road non-conference games:  UCLA (3 games), Texas, Missouri State, UT Arlington, Arkansas, and two trips to Wichita State.

Summit League match-ups include:  North Dakota, Oakland, Southern Utah, Western Illinois, IPFW, South Dakota State, Centenary, and North Dakota State.  The Summit League plays four-game conference series with a doubleheader on the second day.

Oral Roberts will host the 2010 Summit League Tournament May 27-29 in Tulsa, OK.  The Golden Eagles have won 12 straight Summit Championships, giving them 12 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Illini to Face Tough Slate in 2010

Illinois Head Coach Dan Hartleb

Complete 2010 Illinois Schedule (PDF)
The Illini will open the season with a two-game home series against Bradley on Feb. 20-21, then will travel to the Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Fla., area, for the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge, where it will face the challenging trio of Notre Dame, South Florida and St. John’s, three of the top five teams in BIG EAST conference play last year.

The next weekend, the Orange and Blue will travel to the Keith LeClair Invitational Tournament hosted by East Carolina, and will face the host Pirates, Western Carolina and West Virginia. The following weekend will be the Caravelle Resort Classic in Conway, S.C., where Illinois will play host Coastal Carolina twice as well as Lipscomb and Ball State. Over spring break, the Illini will take its annual trip to Winter Haven, Fla., where it will play in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Illinois will face 2009 NCAA Tournament qualifier Dartmouth twice as well as Bucknell, Akron, North Dakota State and Southeastern (FL) University.

After Spring Trip, the Illini will travel to Illinois State on March 30 and return home on March 31 for a game against Chicago State before opening the Big Ten slate against Penn State at Illinois Field. The next week will by a trying one for Illinois, as it travels to Bradley, faces Missouri at Busch Stadium on April 7, and travels to Iowa for a weekend series.

The Illini will return home to host Eastern Illinois on April 13 before traveling to Marion, Ill., for the annual game against Southern Illinois at Rent One Park on April 14. That weekend, Michigan comes to Illinois Field for a three-game series before Illinois State visits Champaign on April 20. The Illini face EIU for the second time in eight days on April 21 when the two teams meet at Grimes Field at Peterson Park in Mattoon, the site of the teams’ matchup in 2008. That weekend, the Illini wrap up the first half of Big Ten play at Michigan State.

Illinois then returns home for its longest home stand of the season, a six-game stretch in which it faces Bradley, Northwestern, Southern Illinois and Butler. The Illini then travel to Ohio State for a weekend series before taking off the middle of the week for final exams. Illinois gets back to action by hosting Purdue for a three-game series and finishing its mid-week slate with a contest at Illinois Field against Western Michigan on May 18. Illinois finishes the regular season with a trip to Bloomington, Ind., for the final Big Ten series of the season. The Big Ten Tournament will be May 26-29.

(Release)

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)