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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate baseball team has proven, even with the move to Division I, that it is not afraid of a challenge, and the 2010 season will be no exception, as the Spartans will play 32 of its 56 games in 2010 against teams that finished 2009 with non-losing records, 21 against teams with 30 or more wins, 18 against teams with an RPI of better than 100 and seven against teams that competed in the NCAA Regionals, as head coach Matt Fincher announced the schedule on Monday.

USC Upstate Head Coach Matt Fincher

Upstate, celebrating its 25^th season of play in 2010, will not stray from the path that Fincher has laid out for the team in its move to the Atlantic Sun Conference and Division I play. Once again, the team will find itself challenged every step of the way, beginning with a game against Appalachian State, which went 33-21 and finished 83^rd in the RPI in 2009, on Feb. 20.

Complete 2010 USC Upstate Schedule (PDF)

The Spartans will have a few more advantages up its sleeves in their schedule during the 2010 season, thanks mainly to 30 games in the friendly confines of Harley Park and no non-conference mid-week games more than three hours from the Spartanburg campus, heading only as far south as Charleston and as far north as Knoxville, Tenn.

Upstate will also continue to develop rivalries with traditional regional foes and powers, like the Atlantic 10’s Charlotte (at Charlotte, March 31; at Harley Park, April 6), the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Clemson (at Clemson, April 21), the Southern Conference’s The Citadel (at Charleston, March 10; at Harley Park, May 12) and the Southeastern Conference’s South Carolina (April 20, Columbia), and Tennessee (March 23, Knoxville). Upstate will also keep rivalries with the Big South’s Presbyterian (Feb. 20, Harley Park; Feb. 21, Clinton; April 7, Clinton), UNC Asheville (March 30, Harley Park; April 14, Asheville) and Gardner-Webb (March 3, March 24, Harley Park), all within an hour’s drive of Spartanburg, and Charleston Southern (March 9, Charleston; March 16, Harley Park).

The team will also start a few other non-conference relationships, including home-and-home agreements with SoCon power the College of Charleston (April 13, Harley Park; May 11, Charleston) and 2009 NCAA Regional participant Georgia State (Feb. 23, Atlanta; Feb. 24, Harley Park).

Fincher has also worked to keep developing the working relationship with Wofford for the Courtyard by Marriott Classic, a co-operative classic run by the two schools. This season, the tournament will occur on the second weekend of the season, from Feb. 26-28, with five games occurring in three days at Harley Park and Wofford playing four games at Russell C. King Field. The Spartans will host Dayton, NJIT and Butler during the tournament.

A reduction in the number of conference games from 30 to 27 in the 2010 season will also allow Upstate to play three more games at home, as the Spartans host George Washington for a three-game non-conference set on March 6-7. The Spartans will also play a two-game homestand to end the season on May 18-19 against the Colonial Athletic Association’s William & Mary.

The conference season favors Upstate this year as a mix of tough match-ups will head to Harley Park, as both the 2009 A-Sun Tournament champions and the two-time defending A-Sun regular season champions will visit Upstate. FGCU, the regular-season champs will kick off Upstate’s A-Sun season on March 12-13 while 2009 A-Sun Tournament champs Jacksonville visit on April 2-3. Also on Upstate’s home slate in A-Sun series are Campbell (April 16-17) and Kennesaw State (May 14-15).

The Spartans will hit the road five times for three-game A-Sun series, heading to ETSU (March 19-20), Belmont (March 26-27), North Florida (April 10-11), Mercer (April 23-24) and Stetson (May 7-8).

The Spartans return four starters and six pitchers from a squad that went 17-37 overall in 2009. The Spartans will be led by senior catcher Jimmy Tanner (Fayetteville, Ga./Starr’s Mill), who was an All-Star this summer in the Northwoods League, and senior Matt Branham (Columbia, S.C./Spring Valley), who went struck out a school-record 82 batters in 82 innings before being drafted in the 47th round of the MLB draft by the Houston Astros in June.

(Release)

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Gamecocks’ slate features 25 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams

South Carolina Head Coach Ray Tanner

and face the Tigers at Doug Kingsmore Stadium on Friday, March 5 with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. The two schools will then make the trek to Greenville, S.C. and face off at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. First pitch on Saturday is 2 p.m. The series then concludes on Sunday afternoon in Columbia at Carolina Stadium with a 2 p.m. start.

Complete 2010 South Carolina Baseball Schedule (PDF)

The Gamecocks’ 30-game SEC schedule begins on Friday, March 19 with South Carolina hosting Tennessee. The Gamecocks will also host Mississippi State (April 2-4), Ole Miss (April 16-18), Alabama (April 30-May 2) and Florida (May 20-22). SEC road contests include Auburn (March 26-28), Vanderbilt (April 9-11), Georgia (April 23-25), Kentucky (May 7-9) and 2009 CWS participant Arkansas (May 14-16). Carolina will also play 10 additional in-state contests this year with Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, Furman, Presbyterian, The Citadel, USC Upstate, Winthrop and Wofford.

The SEC Tournament is scheduled for May 26-30 at Regions Park in Hoover, Ala. with the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Super Regionals the following two weeks. The College World Series in Omaha, Neb. is slated from June 19-30.

South Carolina owns the longest current streak of NCAA Regional appearances among the 12 SEC schools with 10 straight trips to the tournament dating back to the 2000 season. In that span, Carolina has seven NCAA Super Regional appearances (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007) and three trips to the College World Series (2002, 2003, 2004). South Carolina is one of only seven schools in the nation to make at least seven NCAA Super Regionals in the last 10 years and one of only eight schools in the country to have reached the NCAA Regionals every season in this decade. The program’s 10-year total record of 468-201 is the fourth highest win total among NCAA Division I schools.

South Carolina head coach Ray Tanner is entering his 14th season at the helm with the Gamecocks and his 23rd year as a collegiate head coach. Tanner’s career record is 975-439-3 (.689) with a 580-266 (.686) mark at South Carolina. The .686 winning percentage is third highest in SEC history.

(Release)

RICHMOND, Ky. – A new-look 2010 baseball schedule was released on Monday by second-year Eastern Kentucky University head coach Jason Stein. The schedule is highlighted by a series with Purdue at Turkey Hughes Field, a spring break trip through the state of North Carolina, a neutral-site showdown with West Virginia and trips to Tennessee and Louisville.

EKU Head Coach Jason Stein

Instead of hosting an early-season tournament at Turkey Hughes Field, as the Colonels have done the past several seasons, EKU will open the 2010 season with a three game series at Western Carolina from February 26-28. The Colonels fell to the Catamounts last year in Cullowhee, 24-23, in a mid-week, five-hour slugfest.

Complete 2010 Eastern Kentucky Schedule

The Colonels’ home opener will come on March 2 when they host Ohio as the second half of a home-and-home series dating back to last year.

Following a trip to Knoxville on March 3 to take on Tennessee, EKU will spend spring break (March 5-14) in North Carolina facing the likes of Presbyterian, UNC Greensboro, North Carolina A&T and High Point.

Two days after returning home, the Colonels will host the Boilermakers for a two-game series at Turkey Hughes Field from March 16-17.

The series with Purdue is the first third of a homestand that extends to March 23 and features a three game series with Bowling Green and single game with Miami (Ohio).

EKU begins its OVC schedule against the team it ended with in 2009: Eastern Illinois. The Panthers visit Turkey Hughes Field for a three game stand beginning on March 27.

The Colonels will host three more conference series in 2010 against Austin Peay (April 10-11), Tennessee Tech (May 1-2) and Jacksonville State (the final conference series of the year, May 15-16).

Outside of the OVC, EKU will take on West Virginia in Charleston, W.V. on April 13 and will travel to Louisville to face the Cardinals on May 18.

Other non-conference games include a home-and-home with Marshall (home on March 31, away on April 14), a two game series at East Tennessee State (April 6-7), visits from Xavier (May 12) and the University of the Cumberlands (April 20), trips to Western Kentucky (April 28) and Dayton (May 11) and a three game series with future OVC school SIU Edwardsville to end the regular season (May 21-23).

Another point of interest concerning the schedule is that the 2010 OVC Baseball Championship will be held at Pringles Park in Jackson, Tenn., not at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky. where the tournament had been played the last nine seasons.

The Colonels return three All-OVC players, as well as three OVC All-Newcomers, for the 2010 campaign.

EKU’s Fall World Series will be held at Turkey Hughes Field this Friday and Saturday, November 13-14.

Knights have a total of 36 games at home this season

UCF Head Coach Terry Rooney

“We are looking forward to a very competitive 2010 schedule,” said second-year head coach Terry Rooney. “As always Conference USA continuously ranks as one of the top five baseball leagues in the country. That combined with our non-conference schedule will give fans plenty of opportunities to see the Knights this year.”

Complete 2010 UCF Schedule

While UCF has three more home games this year compared to 2009, prices on season tickets remain unchanged for the 2010 campaign. Reserved chairback seating behind homeplate will be $199, while a reserved bleacher season ticket costs $150 for adults and $99 for faculty/staff, youth and seniors.  Orders can be placed through the ticket office at 407-823-1000.

Opening Day 2010 is set for Friday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. when Savannah State travels to Orlando for a three-game series in what will be the first meeting between the Knights and Tigers.

Following a midweek tilt at Florida Feb. 24, UCF will host Siena (Feb. 26-28), Duquesne (March 2), North Florida (March 3), Central Michigan (March 5-7), Miami (March 9), Hartford (March 12-14) and USF (March 16) in a 13-game homestand.

The clash with the Miami Hurricanes marks the first contest between the two programs since 1995. UCF eventually makes the return trip to face UM March 23.

The Knights’ remaining non-conference home series takes place March 19-21 against Presbyterian, another team UCF has never faced.

For the second-straight season, UCF kicks off the Conference USA slate on the road when it heads to Houston March 26-28. Rooney’s program also makes trips this year to square off against Southern Mississippi, Marshall and Tulane. USM is coming off its first appearance in the College World Series.

Meanwhile, UCF welcomes UAB, Rice, Memphis and East Carolina to its East Orlando campus. The Owls and Pirates are both hoping to ride momentum from last year as they both reached the 2009 NCAA Super Regionals.

(Press Release)