FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
STORRS, Conn. – In 2011, the University of Connecticut baseball team is scheduled to play 56 regular season games in the program’s 116th season, including 16 games against teams that competed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The 16 games will be played against nine different opponents, including Central Connecticut, College of Charleston, Louisville, Minnesota, Oregon State, St. John’s, San Diego, Southern Miss., and UC Irvine. Prior to BIG EAST competition, UConn will play three programs that won their respective conference titles in 2010 as San Diego won the West Coast Conference, Minnesota won the Big Ten and Southern Miss took home the Conference USA crown.
The Huskies will play in three different time zones and 11 different states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.
UConn has also scheduled 14 games against teams that finished in the top-50 RPI in 2010 as the Huskies will face California, College of Charleston, Louisville, Oregon State, St. John’s, San Diego and UC Irvine. Five of UConn’s first 13 opponents faced are on that list. Only two of those contests will be on the Huskies’ home field, resulting in a very challenging schedule on the road for the Huskies this season.
UConn will host 17 games at J.O. Christian Field, two at Thomas J. Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. and one at New Britain Stadium in New Britain, Conn. The Huskies will host five BIG EAST series in 2011 with games against Pittsburgh and St. John’s in Storrs.
The Huskies will play two of their three games against Georgetown, USF and Louisville at J.O. Christian Field, while playing one contest at a minor league ballpark. The Huskies will host Georgetown on Friday, April 22 at New Britain Stadium and will take on both USF (May 7) and Louisville (May 13) at Dodd Stadium.
“I believe our 2011 schedule is our toughest yet,” said head coach Jim Penders. “The Big East was rated the sixth-strongest conference in the nation last year, and we’ll have plenty of tests in February and March to prepare us for the rigors of competing for a championship. We’re also looking forward to bringing some regular season Big East games to Norwich and New Britain with the hope that thousands of Husky fans will come out to see us under the lights in two beautiful ballparks this spring.”
UConn once again begins its season at the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge as the Huskies will face Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan in Florida to start off the year. Following that trip, the Huskies will head to the College Classic (Feb. 25-27) hosted by Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, where they will face Oregon State and Indiana as well as Texas A&M – CC.
The Huskies’ spring break trip in March brings them back to the west coast as they traveled there a year ago. UConn will face San Diego State, California and UC Irvine, while the University of San Diego will host four games against the Huskies in a span of five days.
After returning to Connecticut to face instate-foe Sacred Heart in Bridgeport, UConn will participate in the Cougar Invitational in Mount Pleasant, S.C., where the ballclub will take on Rhode Island, College of Charleston and Southern Mississippi.
Beginning on March 21, the Huskies return to New England to take on non-conference opponents Northeastern, Holy Cross and Yale. The Huskies’ home-opener against Holy Cross is set for March 22 at 3:00 p.m.
BIG EAST Conference play begins on March 25 as UConn will host Pittsburgh in a three-game series at J.O. Christian Field. The following weekend UConn will host St. John’s beginning on Friday, April 1 before a home-and-away series with Massachusetts. The Huskies head to South Bend, Ind. for a three-game series at Notre Dame on April 8 to mark their first conference road games of the season.
The Huskies will face both Villanova (April 15-17), Rutgers (April 29-May 1) on the road, while they will host Georgetown (April 21-23), USF (May 7-9) and Louisville (May 13-15) in conference series. The Huskies conclude the 2011 regular season with its final league series on the road at Cincinnati (May 19-21).
The BIG EAST Baseball Championship will once again be played in Clearwater, Fla. at Bright House Field and will take place May 25-29. The NCAA Tournament begins June 3 with regional competition.
