FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
CINCINNATI – Xavier University baseball head coach Scott Googins has announced the 2010 schedule, a slate that includes early season trips to Tennessee (Feb. 19-21), Georgia Tech (Feb. 26-28), Duke (Mar. 3) and Wake Forest (Mar. 5-7). The Musketeers will face six teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2009, including Super Regional participant Louisville on March 16.
"We are really excited about the non-conference schedule that includes several teams with well known tradition," commented Googins. "The guys are looking forward to playing at several great venues this season and those non-conference teams will prepare us for our conference play. We’re excited about the atmosphere of where we’ll be playing, against teams in the ACC, SEC and Big XII, all good baseball conferences and good teams in those conferences."
XU will open the season with 10 straight road games before its home opener on March 9 against LeMoyne. The Musketeers will take on tournament participant Missouri in Columbia Mar. 12-16 followed by a single game at Louisville and then will host Oakland for a three-game homestand Mar. 19-21. Xavier is set to play at Kentucky (Mar. 23) and at Indiana (Mar. 24) before opening Atlantic 10 conference play at Saint Louis Mar. 26-28.
"We have young arms but they have to be able to produce and we are definitely hoping to build off success from last year," Googins mentioned. "It’s hard to look that far ahead, to the A-10 schedule, but I think we will be in the mix. Hopefully our guys will be up to the challenge."
The Musketeers will play nine three-game A-10 series this season, including La Salle (Apr. 9-11), Duquesne (Apr. 16-18), Charlotte (May 7-9) and Massachusetts (May 14-16) at home. Other than SLU, Xavier will travel to Richmond (Apr. 2-4), Rhode Island (Apr. 23-25), Dayton (Apr. 30-May 2) and Saint Joseph’s (May 20-22) to round out its conference schedule.
Other teams in the Musketeers’ schedule in 2010 include Campbell University, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky and Ohio. XU will once again be participating in the second annual Joe Nuxhall Classic Apr. 13-14, which will be hosted by Miami (Ohio) this season. Xavier will defend its 2009 title at the Classic in 2010 against the field that includes Cincinnati, Miami and Wright State.
