FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
NEW ORLEANS – As the calendar changes to October, the Tulane baseball team is getting ready to ramp up fall practice. The Green Wave and head coach Rick Jones have also announced their 2011 schedule, which features 38 homes games hosted inside Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, 18 contests on the road and the Conference USA Tournament at Trustmark Park in Jackson, Miss.
“I think our schedule parallels the schedules that we have been playing (at Tulane) for a long time,” said Tulane head coach Rick Jones. “We have a really strong home schedule. We play in one of the top five leagues in the country, so you know (the) conference schedule is going to be tough. The quality of play in our middle of the week games are as good as anywhere in the country and better than most.”
The 2011 schedule will open with a three game series against Sam Houston State, with the 2011 opener set for a 6:30 first pitch on Friday, February 18. After a trip to Southeastern Louisiana (Feb. 19), Tulane will play its next five games on the Uptown campus, starting with a weekend series versus George Washington. The Colonials will arrive at Turchin Stadium for the February 25-27 series, followed by a two-game set with Northwestern State that will take place on March 1-2.
Tulane will take to the road for a four-game swing, starting with three contests in Oxford, Miss. The Olive and Blue will tangle with Ole Miss (Mar. 4-6) at Oxford-University Stadium before traveling to Louisiana-Monroe for a march 8th contest with the Warhawks.
After their longest road trip of the season, the Green Wave will open their longest home stand of 2011 with a nine-game set on the Turf at Turchin. Wichita State will kick things off with three games from March 11-13, followed by midweek games with the Lions (Mar. 15) and Alcorn State (Mar. 16). The crosstown rival Privateers of the University of New Orleans will venture Uptown for a three-game set on March 18-20 and Nicholls State (Mar. 22) will close out things out.
After the tough pre-conference schedule, the Olive and Blue will have to open the Conference USA slate against rival Southern Miss (Mar. 25-27) in Hattiesburg, Miss. Midweek visits from UNO (Mar. 29) and FIU (Mar. 30) will close out the month of March and Houston will travel to New Orleans for a weekend series starting on April 1.
Intra-state rival LSU is next on the slate, with the Tigers traveling down I-10 for a 6:30 contest with the Green Wave on April 5. A midweek visit from South Alabama (April 13) is sandwiched between a pair of Conference USA road trips, with Tulane heading to UCF (April 8-10) and Rice (April 15-17).
Another lengthy home stand ends the month of April for Tulane, with Southeastern Louisiana kicking things off on April 19. The Green Wave will use their Conference USA off weekend to entertain Utah of the Mountain West Conference on April 21-23, a series that runs from Thursday to Saturday. A visit from Jackson State (April 27) will lead TU into their fifth C-USA weekend series against UAB (April 29-May 1).
A trip to Baton Rouge to take on LSU on May 3 and a three-game series at Marshall (May 13-15) are the only road contests for Tulane in the month of May, while Memphis (May 6-9) and East Carolina (May 19-21) will both come to the Crescent City to wrap up the regular season.
The Conference USA tournament will be held in Jackson, Miss. at Trustmark Park, the home of the Atlanta Braves Double-A affiliate the Mississippi Braves, running from May 25-29. The pool play format will be held at the neutral site, with the Championships game slated for May 29.
