FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Charleston, S.C. – Head coach Fred Jordan announced The Citadel’s 2009 baseball schedule today with 35 home games on the slate for the Bulldogs. The Citadel will host 13 of the team’s first 14 games at home in the friendly confines of Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The Bulldogs face a tough challenge early on as four of the first six opponents recorded 30 or more wins last season. The Citadel will also face two NCAA Regional teams and a pair of 40-plus win opponents in the first six opponents as they travel to Coastal Carolina (50-14 in 2008) on March 4 and then host Elon (44-18) in the Bulldogs’ first Southern Conference series of the season.
“We have a very demanding schedule with great competition,” said head coach Fred Jordan. “We’re fortunate this year to have a few more home games both from an economical standpoint for us and from a fan support standpoint. Obviously the Southern Conference schedule will be challenging. The Southern Conference is the No. 1 mid-major conference in the country by far.”
In the Southern Conference, The Citadel will be challenged from the onset, having to travel to Appalachian State and Western Carolina in consecutive weekends. Following a non-conference game in Ladson, S.C. at Charleston Southern, The Citadel will host Air Force in a four-game non-conference series beginning on Thursday, March 26. That series begins a season-long nine game homestand for the Bulldogs.
Following the series with the Falcons, The Citadel will host South Carolina in a 7 p.m. showdown at Riley Park on Tuesday, March 31. After facing Winthrop the next night, The Citadel will host Wofford on April 1-3.
After traveling to Mount Pleasant, S.C. on April 7 to face the College of Charleston in a non-conference tilt and hosting Charleston Southern on April 8, The Citadel will again take the road as the Bulldogs will play eight road games in nine contests. That stretch of road games is broken up by a home contest against Savannah State on April 14 in a doubleheader with the Charleston RiverDogs at Riley Park before resuming the road swing at South Carolina on April 15 in Columbia.
The Citadel will host conference opponents for two consecutive weekends starting April 24 with Georgia Southern coming to town on April 24-26 and league newcomer Samford traveling to Charleston on May 1-3.
The Citadel will head to the Upstate for the first of two trips in May on May 7, 8 and 10 for a SoCon series at Furman. The two teams will not play on Saturday, May 9 due to Commencement exercise taking place at both schools.
The Citadel closes out the regular season on May 14-16 as the Bulldogs host cross-town rival College of Charleston at Riley Park.
For the first time in 20 years, the Southern Conference Tournament will be held away from the city of Charleston. Hosted by the Greenville Drive and Furman University at West End Field in Greenville, the tournament will also see a slightly altered format to last year’s pairings as only the top eight teams will qualify. The Southern Conference Tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 20 and will end on Sunday, May 24 with a televised championship game.
