FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
Charleston, S.C. – Head Coach Fred Jordan and The Citadel Baseball program released their schedule for the 2012 season on Tuesday. The Bulldogs play host to a four-team tournament to open the season and remain in Charleston for the first four weeks of the season, while hosting 33 total games at Riley Park.
“We have a very demanding schedule coming in 2012 with great competition coming early in the season at home,” said Jordan. “Our league schedule will once again be a true battle each and every weekend. We are excited to see a much more balanced schedule that alternates home and away conference series each week after being on the road late much of last season.”
Highlighting the 2012 slate is a three-game series at Minnesota, out of the Big Ten, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., from March 23-25. The Gophers and Bulldogs have only met on one previous occasion back in 2007 when Minnesota won a 6-3 decision in the Homewood Suites Shootout at Riley Park.
The season-opening tournament will feature Richmond, Liberty and Towson making their way south to Riley Park on Feb. 17-19. The Bulldogs have not faced the Spiders or Flames since 2007, also in Charleston. The Tigers will be making their way to Riley Park for the second consecutive season.
For the second time in three seasons, Delaware will come to Charleston to face the Bulldogs in a four-game set in the second weekend of the season. Columbia then makes their way down for a four-game series in the first weekend of March. It is the first trip back to Riley Park for the Lions since 2007.
The Southern Conference slate begins March 9-11 when The Citadel hosts Western Carolina at Riley Park before heading to Boone, N.C., for the first time since 2009 to face Appalachian State on March 16-18.
Midweek contests featuring USC Upstate, Winthrop, Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina will once again appear on the schedule in 2012. The Citadel will face each of those squads once at Riley Park and once on the road.
After making their way to Minnesota in third week of March, The Citadel welcomes South Carolina, the two-time defending national champions, to Riley Park on March 27 and heads to Columbia on April 10 to face the Gamecocks.
Rounding out March, the Bulldogs host Wofford on March 30-April 1 and then head to Birmingham, Ala., to face Samford in the first weekend of April. UNC Greensboro comes to Riley Park on April 13-15, while the Bulldogs head across town to face rival College of Charleston on April 20-22 at Patriots Point.
Georgia Southern, the defending SoCon Tournament Champions, come to Riley Park on April 27-29 before the Bulldogs face North Florida for a pair of midweek games. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1995.
The Citadel travels to Davidson to face the Wildcats in the opening weekend of May as the series will be played on Friday and a doubleheader on Sunday with the senior Bulldogs returning to Charleston that Saturday for graduation. The Bulldogs then host Furman at Riley Park in their final home series of the season on May 11-13. The 56-game slate concludes with a trip to Elon to face the Phoenix on May 17-19.
The 2012 Southern Conference Tournament will shift to Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., the site for the next two years, while keeping the same format with the top eight seeds qualifying for the event. The tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 23 with the championship game on Sunday, May 27.
