SAN ANTONIO — UTSA head baseball coach Sherman Corbett announced Wednesday his program’s 2010 schedule. Highlighted by six teams that played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament (Baylor, Sam Houston State, Texas, Texas A&M, TCU, Texas State), a full slate of 33 Southland Conference games and 26 home tilts, the ledger features a total of 52 contests this spring.

UTSA Head Coach Sherman Corbett

schedule for more than a decade. UTSA has won 20 of its last 26 tilts at the 16-year-old facility.

Complete 2010 UT San Antonio Schedule (PDF)

The Birds open the season with a six-game home stand at Roadrunner Field. UTSA will host Houston Baptist from Feb. 20-21 before welcoming Indiana State to the Bird Bath the following weekend (Feb. 26-28).

The year’s first road trip will take place from March 2-14 when UTSA plays eight games in a two-week span. The trip kicks off with a March 2 tilt at TCU, which came one game short of playing in last year’s College World Series. A four-game set at San Francisco follows from March 5-7 and the journey ends the weekend of March 12-14 when the Birds open conference play at Southeastern Louisiana.

The Roadrunners return to the Alamo City for the two-game series with Iowa and UT Arlington visits the Bird Bath two days later in the first of three conference contests that will be played from March 17-19.

Following a March 24 tilt at Baylor, UTSA returns to Roadrunner Field to host three-time defending Southland Tournament Champion Sam Houston State from March 26-27. The Birds have won 12 of the last 13 regular season meetings with the Bearkats.

A five-game road trip that includes stops at Houston (March 30), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 1-3) and Texas A&M (April 6) follows and the Birds then return home to square off against Stephen F. Austin (April 9-11) and Houston (April 13).

UTSA embarks on a season-long nine-game road trip from April 16-May 1 when they play at Northwestern State (April 16-18), Lamar (April 23-25), 2009 national runner-up Texas (April 27) and I-35 rival Texas State (April 30-May 1), which won the Southland’s regular season title a year ago.

The Roadrunners come back to the Bird Bath for a season-best eight-game home stand that begins on May 2 with the conclusion of the Texas State home-and-home series. Nicholls will come to town from May 7-9, along with McNeese State (May 14-16) and TCU (May 18).

UTSA closes out regular season play with a three contests at Central Arkansas from May 20-22.

The Southland Tournament is scheduled for May 26-29 at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. The circuit’s top eight teams will qualify for the four-day postseason event that determines the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

(Release)

Longhorns legend will have his No. 3 retired during the 2010 baseball season

Longhorn great and former big leaguer Keith Moreland (shown at a Cubs event)

Moreland, a three-time first-team All-America on the Forty Acres, led the Longhorns to a College World Series in each of his three seasons (1973-75) and was one of the key components of Texas’ 1975 College World Series championship team. He was primarily a third baseman at Texas.

The Carrollton, Texas, native ranks third in the Texas annals with a career .388 batting average. Moreland also ranks second in hits (274), seventh in RBI (183) and eighth in doubles (53). During his three-year career, the Horns amassed a 160-21 record, including a 58-8 mark in Southwest Conference action and three league titles.

As a freshman, Moreland hit .349 with 43 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 42 RBI and five stolen bases. Texas finished 50-7 overall, 15-3 in the SWC and tied for third at the CWS.

During his sophomore campaign, Moreland batted .399 with 69 runs, 25 doubles, three triples, six home runs, 72 RBI and 14 stolen bases. The Horns finished 54-8 overall, 20-4 in the SWC and placed fourth at the CWS.

As a junior, Moreland hit .410 with 57 runs, 17 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 69 RBI and 11 stolen bases and served as co-captain for the 56-6 national championship team.

He was named to the College World Series All-Decade Team for the 1970s and his 23 career hits at the College World Series ranks second all-time in the history of the tournament.

Moreland also played football on the Forty Acres, earning a gridiron letter in 1973.

Moreland went on to a 12-year Major League Baseball career as a catcher, third baseman and outfielder. He played four seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and was a member of their 1980 World Series championship team. He spent six seasons with the Chicago Cubs and helped them win the 1984 National League Eastern Division championship, the first title of any kind for the Cubs since 1945. He had stops with the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles.

His best season came in 1985 with the Cubs, when he ranked fourth in the National League in RBI (106) and seventh in batting average (.307). Moreland hit .279 with 1,279 hits, 214 doubles, 121 home runs and 674 RBI for his career. He batted .364 in the post-season, including two doubles, one home run and seven RBI in 14 games.

Since retiring from baseball in 1989, Moreland has remained in the athletics industry. Most notably, Longhorns fans may recognize Moreland as the color analyst for the radio broadcasts of Texas Football and Baseball games.

Moreland received his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from UT in 1991.

“One thing that was really special to me was to come back and get my degree from The University of Texas. That was something I wanted to do when I started school,” Moreland said. “To come back and get my degree was probably something as special as there is compared to anything I’ve been involved in.”

Moreland and Kirk Dressendorfer were both inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame last July, giving Texas a total of seven inductees since the Hall opened in 2006. Moreland was inducted in the Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1985.

(Release)

Gonzaga opens the 2010 season at the Cactus Classic in Arizona

Mark Machtolf

The Bulldogs, coming off of their third consecutive 30-win season and first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1981, will open the season Feb. 19-21 with the Cactus Classic held at Tucson Electric Park, the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training complex, in Tucson, Ariz. There the Zags will match up with NCAA Tournament participant Missouri twice and also play single games against New Mexico State and Washington.

Complete 2010 Gonzaga Schedule (PDF)

The following weekend will see Gonzaga return to Arizona, this time for the Peoria Spring Training Classic held at the San Diego Padres spring training home field in Peoria, Ariz. The Bulldogs are scheduled to meet up with NCAA Tournament participant Kansas and Western Athletic Conference member Sacramento State each twice throughout the weekend.

The first weekend of March the Zags will begin a stretch that will see them play 11 games in 12 days, starting with a trip to Shreveport, La. for a three-game series with Summit League member Centenary. Following the series with the Gents, Gonzaga heads to Lubbock, Tex. for a two-game series with Big-12 member Texas Tech Mar. 9-10. GU then travels to San Antonio, Tex. for the Irish Baseball Classic where the Zags will face Pacific, Bradley and Notre Dame.

“The early season tournaments always provide some good challenges and this season will be no different,” commented Machtolf. “The trips to Louisiana and San Antonio will be exciting because it gives us a chance to play a couple different teams in a different region of the country.”

Mar. 15-16 will be the first set of home games for the Zags as they wrap up the 11 games in 12 day stretch with a two-game set against BYU. The ensuing weekend has the Bulldogs traveling to southern California for a three-game series against 2009 Big West Conference champion and NCAA Regional host UC Irvine Mar. 19-21. This will be the first year of a home-and-home series with the Anteaters who will come to Spokane for a weekend series in 2011.

“The series with UC Irvine will be a very tough competitive series against a very good ball club that was the top-ranked team in the country at one point last season,” stated Machtolf. “That weekend will be a difficult test that will get us ready for WCC play.”

Gonzaga continues on the road the following week facing in-state rival and 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Washington State in Pullman, Wash. Mar. 23 before traveling to face Utah Valley Mar. 25-27. Following a midweek home matchup with WSU Mar. 30 the Zags will head to Honolulu for a three-game series with the University of Hawaii.

After the Hawaii series, the Bulldogs welcome another in-state rival out of the Pac-10 in Washington for a two-game midweek set at the Patterson Baseball Complex and Washington Trust Field Apr. 6-7.

Apr. 9-11 the Zags begin defense of their conference crown at San Francisco. They then play six of their next seven games at home, starting against Arizona Apr. 12. Following at trip to WSU to close out the season-series with the Cougars Apr. 14, GU opens up its WCC home schedule with a three-game weekend series against Pepperdine . The Bulldogs then close out the home stand with a two-game set against another Pac-10 opponent in Oregon Apr. 20-21.

“Those midweek matchups with the Pac-10 teams are always exciting,” stated Machtolf. “All of the Pac-10 teams on our schedule have really improved from last season and will provide us with some tough tests.”

The weekend of Apr. 23-25 will provide a showdown between the past two conference champions as the Zags head to San Diego for a weekend series with the University of San Diego. Gonzaga will wrap up its non-conference schedule at Washington Apr. 27-28 before returning home for a conference series against Santa Clara Apr. 30-May 2.

Following a conference series at Saint Mary’s May 14-16, the Zags are slated to close out the regular season playing their final six games at home, hosting a pair of WCC foes in Loyola Marymount May 21-23 and Portland May 28-30.

“Playing four conference series at home is a huge advantage for us,” explained Machtolf. “We were very tough at home in WCC play last year and playing those last two conference series in front of our home crowd here in Spokane could really help us down the stretch.”

The Bulldogs are coming off of arguably the best season in school-history, posting the sixth most wins in program history (36), capturing the school’s inaugural WCC Regular Season and Championship Series crowns, earning the program’s eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with a No. 22 national ranking and having a program-best five players drafted by Major League Baseball.

(Press Release)