FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
Houston – The University of Houston baseball team and head coach Todd Whitting announced the 2012 schedule Friday afternoon.
The 2012 season kicks off Feb. 17-19 with a weekend series against Delaware at Cougar Field. The season opener marks the first time the two teams will meet on the baseball field.
The series against the Blue Hens kicks off a schedule that includes seven NCAA Regional teams, an NCAA Super Regional team and a College World Series Team. In addition, Houston will play 28 games in the friendly confines of Cougar Field.
Following the opening weekend, Houston will host a mid-week contest against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 21 and host a three game series against Texas State on Feb. 24-26. The Bobcats finished 41-23 in 2011 and earned a berth in the NCAA Austin Regional. A mid-week contest against cross-town rival Rice on Feb. 29 will close out an eight-game home swing for the Cougars.
UH will leave Cougar Field but not the city of Houston as they travel to Minute Maid Park for the Houston College Classic. A schedule for the tournament has not been released but Houston, Rice, Texas, Texas Tech, Tennessee and Arkansas are all scheduled to participate in the tournament.
Houston’s first trip outside the state will be a mid-week contest against Louisiana Lafayette on March 6, followed by a three-game series against Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss., March 9-11. UH hosted the Rebels in a series at Cougar Field in 2010 and finished with a 1-2 record.
The Cougars are then scheduled to play a mid-week game at Sam Houston State (March 13) before a series in Stillwater, Okla., against Oklahoma State on March 16-18. The series against the Cowboys will mark the first meeting between the two programs since 1993.
The Cougars return home for two mid-week games against Texas A&M and Washington on March 21 and 22, respectively. The Aggies advanced to the College World Series in 2010 and finished with a 47-22 record. Houston last played Washington in 2003 at the Battle of the Beach in Malibu, Calif.
Conference USA play kicks off March 23-25 when Houston makes a trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Houston earned a 2-1 series win against the Golden Eagles at Cougar Field last season.
The series against Southern Miss begins a seven-game stretch against NCAA Regional teams as they will return to Cougar Field to meet Baylor on March 27 and host a three-game series against UCF on March 30-April 1.
The month of April continues with an April 3 meeting with McNeese State and a weekend series against East Carolina in Greenville, N.C. The Pirates finished with a 41-21 record and competed in the Charlottesville Regional.
Houston will return to Cougar Field for a game against Lamar on April 10 before heading to Lubbock, Texas for a series against Texas Tech, April 13-15. The Cougars knocked off the Red Raiders, 5-4, during their last meeting at the Houston College Classic in 2008.
The season continues with a rematch against Sam Houston State on April 17 and a C-USA series against Marshall on April 20-22 at Cougar Field. The Cougars then travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face the UAB Blazers, April 27-29.
The month of May kicks off with a meeting with UTSA and the Cougars play their final road series when they head across town to play the Rice Owls. Rice finished the 2010 campaign with a 42-21 record and hosted an NCAA Regional.
UH will return home to close out the final two weeks of the regular season. Houston will meet Tulane, May 11-13 and Memphis, May 17-19. Their final mid-week contest will be a rematch with Louisiana Lafayette on May 15.
The 2011 C-USA Championship will be played May 23-26 in Jackson, Miss.
