FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
BUIES CREEK, N.C.-Home and away contests with North Carolina State, Duke, East Carolina and UNC Wilmington, along with a home series with Northwestern and a full slate of Atlantic Sun games highlight the 2011 Campbell baseball schedule.
The Camels will host 32 games at Taylor Field this season, including 11 against in-state competition. CU will hit the road for 24 contests.
“Our schedule will be one of the toughest schedules we have had since I have been here at Campbell,” said fourth-year head coach Greg Goff.
The Camels kick off the 2011 season on Friday, Feb. 18 in Greensboro, N.C. with a doubleheader at North Carolina A&T. The Aggies will return the favor one day later, as Campbell will make its home debut in another doubleheader with NC A&T. The Aggies will make a return trip to Buies Creek in May for a single game.
On Feb. 22, Campbell will make the short trip to Durham to face Duke at Jack Coombs Field. The Blue Devils will make the return trip to Taylor Field on March 23. NC State, another ACC foe, will head into Buies Creek on May 10. The Wolfpack will host CU on April 19 in Raleigh. The Camels have taken three of the last four meetings with NC State, with their only loss coming in 11 innings, 9-8, on the road last season.
“I know our players look forward to competing against some of the best teams in the country this spring, and I am positive that they will be ready for that challenge,” added Goff.
Campbell will wrap up February with a weekend series against UNC Asheville, Friday (2/25, single game) and Saturday (2/26, doubleheader).
March will begin for the Camels in Greenville, N.C., taking on regional rival East Carolina. The Pirates will come to Campbell a week later, completing the home and away series. Last season, the Camels downed the then No. 21 Pirates, 12-5, in Buies Creek.
Atlantic Sun play will begin at Kennesaw State on March 4 and 5. The Camels will host their first A-Sun series the following weekend, March 11-12, with Stetson.
Other A-Sun series in Buies Creek this season will include Mercer (April 1-2), North Florida (April 8-9), Belmont (April 21-22) and USC Upstate (May 19-20). Campbell will take on Florida Gulf Coast (March 18-19), Jacksonville (April 14-15), Lipscomb (May 6-7) and East Tennessee State (May 13-14) in league games on the road.
Another home nonconference highlight will come on March 24-26, as the Camels host Northwestern in a three game series, the first Big Ten affiliate to come to Buies Creek since Campbell played Michigan State in a four-game set in 1998.
Just before the Northwestern series will be a midweek game with Fordham at Taylor Field on March 16 and a home doubleheader with Maryland-Eastern Shore on March 22. That UMES double-dip will start a nine date, 11 game homestand for the Camels.
CU will host North Carolina Central on March 30 before heading back to Durham, this time at historic Durham Athletic Park, on April 6 to complete the season series with the Eagles.
The Camels take on longtime rival UNC Wilmington in Buies Creek on April 5, while heading to the Port City on April 12.
Campbell’s last nonconference matchup away from Taylor Field will be a twinbill at Longwood in Farmville, Va. on April 28.
The A-Sun Tournament, host by Lipscomb for the second straight season, will be May 24-28 in Nashville, Tenn.
“This schedule will give our fans an opportunity to come and watch a number of exciting teams that are coming into Buies Creek in 2011,” said Goff. “I hope to build on last year’s record-setting attendance numbers, and continue to have the student-body and the surrounding community come out and support us. With the renovations that are on-going at Taylor Field, fans should be able to enjoy an improved game-day experience for each one of our home games.”
Campbell has set 43 different school or individual records over the last three years, including 19 during last season alone, including: stolen bases (119), hits (696), doubles (159) and fewest walks allowed (3.73/game). Last season, the program also registered back to back winning seasons for the first time since 2001, and the program’s most wins (28) in nearly a decade.
