FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. The Indiana baseball team will play at least nine games against teams that played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, beginning with three high-level tournaments in the season¹s first three weeks, head coach Tracy Smith announced today. The Hoosiers, who finished over .500 and made the Big Ten Tournament for the third straight season in 2010, will open the 2011 slate with tournaments at Coastal Carolina, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Tennessee.
”This schedule may be the toughest yet in our tenure at Indiana”, head coach Tracy Smith said. “Maybe the best thing about it is that we will play nine different high-level teams in the first three weekends. It will give us a chance to see where we are right out of the chute. It should be a fun start to the season for our fans and will prepare us for the always-rigorous Big Ten schedule.”
IU opens with the Caravelle Resort Invitational in Myrtle Beach, S.C., hosted by perennial top-10 foe Coastal Carolina. Also in attendance will be Big XII opponent Kansas State and ACC challenger Boston College at the event from Feb. 18-20.
In the second weekend of the season, the Hoosiers have no easier a task when they head to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the annual Whataburger Classic, hosted at Whataburger Field, the home of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. In addition to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, IU will be joined by two-time national champion Oregon State and Connecticut, which hosted an NCAA Regional last year and boasts two likely 2011 first round picks in outfielder George Springer and righty pitcher Matt Barnes.
After its first midweek contest at Xavier on March 2, Indiana takes to Knoxville, Tenn., for contests against the host Volunteers as well as Morehead State and Bradley a pair of teams that the Hoosiers played exciting contests with a season ago. IU makes its debut in the Hoosier state with a road contest at Indiana State on Wednesday, March 9. The Hoosiers follow that up with their annual Spring Trip to the Winter Haven, Fla., area for the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Opponents, dates and locations of those games are yet to be determined.
After Spring Break, the Hoosiers take on a pair of in-state foes in Ball State and Evansville. The Hoosiers and Cardinals will square off on Wednesday, March 23, while IU and UE will play three games combined in Bloomington and Evansville. The teams will play a doubleheader at UE on Saturday, March 26, and then the squads will square off in the home opener for the Hoosiers on Sunday, March 27.
The Big Ten slate opens on Friday, April 1, with a trip to Michigan. The Hoosiers will also play on the road against Iowa, Purdue and Illinois. IU’s conference home opening weekend will be against Ohio State on April 8, and IU will play additional home series with Minnesota, Northwestern and Michigan State. Indiana also plays home and away series with Miami University, Indiana State and Louisville in addition to a home midweek contest against Morehead State and a road battle against Kentucky.
The Big Ten Tournament returns to Columbus’ Huntington Park after a one-year stint at Bill Davis Field last year. The home of the Triple-A Columbus Clippers, Huntington Park was the site of Indiana¹s romp through the 2009 Big Ten Tournament en route to the second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. NCAA Regionals will take place on campus sites from June 3-6 with Super Regionals slated for June 10-13. The 2011 College World Series will run from June 18-29 in the new TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb.
The Hoosiers are currently wrapping up their fall campaign with the Cream and Crimson Series at Sembower Field. The series is tied 1-1, with game three set for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch on Thursday, Oct. 14. The teams will then wrap up the series over the weekend, with games slated for Saturday at 4:30 and Sunday at 1:30.
