FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
For the first time since Larry Lee took over as head coach prior to the 2002 baseball season, Cal Poly will play more home games than on the road.
The 2009 Cal Poly baseball schedule announced Tuesday by Lee and director of athletics Alison Cone features 30 home games and 26 on the road.
The Mustangs will host 2003 College World Series champion Rice for a three-game series opening the campaign and also will host Sacramento State and San Francisco for three game non-conference series.
The Big West home schedule includes Cal State Northridge, UC Davis, UC Riverside and four-time College World Series champion Cal State Fullerton.
Cal Poly will play five games against Pac-10 schools, visiting Cal for a three-game series March 13-15 and playing a pair of single games against Southern California — hosting the Trojans on March 31 and visiting the USC campus on May 5.
Also on the schedule are a pair of single games against 2008 College World Series champion Fresno State. The Mustangs, 3-2 against the Bulldogs a year ago, will visit Fresno State on Feb. 24 and host the Bulldogs on April 28.
Cal Poly also will play a pair of midweek games — one home and one away — against San Jose State, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara. The schedule also includes a four-game series against Cal State Bakersfield — March 20-21 at Baggett Stadium and March 22-23 in Bakersfield.
And the Mustangs will play a three-game series at Houston on March 6-8 and will host Dartmouth for a single game March 25.
The Mustangs, who played their first 11 games of the 2008 season on the road, will play six of their first seven games of the 2009 campaign at home — three-game series against Rice on Feb. 20-22 and Sacramento State on Feb. 27-March 1.
Cal Poly played just two midweek games in 2007, but due to the uniform start date implemented by the NCAA, played 13 midweek games a year ago and are scheduled to play 13 more next spring.
In Big West play, the Mustangs host Cal State Northridge on April 3-5, UC Davis on April 17-19, UC Riverside on May 22-24 and four-time College World Series champion Cal State Fullerton on May 8-10.
Cal Poly visits UC Irvine (March 27-29), Pacific (April 9-11), UC Santa Barbara (April 24-26) and Long Beach State (May 15-17) for three-game conference series.
The Mustangs’ streak of four straight winning seasons came to an end in 2008 as Cal Poly posted a 24-32 mark and finished seventh in the Big West with an 8-16 record.
The Mustangs return 18 lettermen, including five position starters and seven pitchers.
2009 College Baseball Schedule- Cal Poly
