FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
ATLANTA – The Georgia State baseball team will open the 2011 season with nine straight games in the state of Georgia, including seven at home as announced by head coach Greg Frady on Thursday. The Panthers unveiled the entire schedule that will feature 32 home games, with a goal of returning to the CAA Championship for a third straight year.
After back-to-back trips to the CAA Championship and a school-record 73 wins over the last two years, the journey back to the NCAA Regionals will begin on February 18th against Texas Southern in Panthersville.
Among the highlights to the 2011 schedule will be trips to Georgia Tech and Georgia, as well as a trip to Starkville, Miss. to face Mississippi State and Iowa, each for the first time.
Georgia State will face cross-town rival Georgia Tech at Russ Chandler Stadium on March 2nd, before heading to Starkville. The Panthers are 2-2 during the regular season at Russ Chandler Stadium during Frady’s four-year tenure.
The Panthers will also face in-state foes Kennesaw State and Mercer for five games this season. The schedule will also look a little different as compared to season past.
With only four teams qualifying for the CAA Championship for a second year in a row, the Panthers will face all ten schools in the league this season, rather than just eight, which has been the case in previous years. This will allow for one additional series in Panthersville and one additional series on the road.
“I am very excited about our 2011 schedule,” commented head coach Greg Frady. “We have a challenging non-conference schedule that will prepare us for conference action this year. By having some home games early, I think it will allow some of our newcomers to adjust to the Division I level, before we take to the road to face some stiff competition.”
The schedule includes seven games against teams that made the NCAA Regionals in 2010 and 18 games against teams that won at least 30 games.
State will face Texas Southern in a three game series on opening weekend (Feb. 18-20) and follow that with a four-game weekend series against Western Illinois (Feb. 25-27).
In between, the Panthers will face in-state rival Mercer in Macon for the first of three midweek games during the season.
Following a meeting with Georgia Tech on Mar. 2, State will travel to Starkville, Miss. to face the host Bulldogs and Iowa as part of a four-game tournament.
Georgia State will return home to face UNC Asheville on Mar. 8-9 for the second year in a row, before opening conference play on Mar. 11 against Towson.
The Panthers will face five CAA opponents at the friendly confines this season. After opening with the Tigers, State will face CAA Tournament Champion VCU from Mar. 25-27, followed by Old Dominion (Apr. 15-17) and Hofstra (Apr. 29-May 1). State will close out the regular season with George Mason, May 19-21, as part of senior weekend.
State’s first CAA road trip will be to Delaware from Apr. 1-3. The Panthers will follow that with trips to James Madison (Apr. 8-10), Northeastern (Apr. 22-24), UNC Wilmington (May 6-8) and William & Mary (May 12-14).
The Panthers will also match-up with Kennesaw State for the second year in a row, travelling to Kennesaw on Mar. 23, followed by a home game on Apr. 19.
The final non-conference weekend series will take place Mar. 18-20, as the Panthers take on Murray State for the first time in school history.
State will make its annual trek to Athens to face the Bulldogs on Mar. 30.
The top four teams in the CAA will once again meet in Wilmington, N.C. this year to determine the automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals. The tournament will take place May 26-28 at Brooks Field.
The Panthers are one of just two teams to qualify for the previous two CAA Championships and have reached the tournament three times in four seasons under Greg Frady.
