FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
MONROE, La. – ULM baseball head coach Jeff Schexnaider released the 2012 Warhawk baseball schedule on Tuesday. The slate features 27 home games, including visits from Southern Miss, Tulane, Memphis and UL-Lafayette.
“We feel like we were able to put together a great pre-conference schedule,” Schexnaider said. “It is going to be a challenging task, but one that will help prepare us for Sun Belt Conference play. We are also excited that our fans will have an opportunity to watch us play often early on in the season.”
The Warhawks will open the 2012 campaign with a three-game series at Texas-San Antonio on Feb. 17-19. ULM will then play 17 of its next 22 games in the friendly confines of Warhawk Field beginning with a Businessman Special against Tulane on Feb. 21. First pitch between the Warhawks and Green Wave is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Warhawk Field; it is the first visit by Tulane to Warhawk Field since 1994.
The following night, Feb. 22, Southern Miss will visit Warhawk Field and then ULM will host Sam Houston State that weekend (Feb. 24-26) for a three-game series. A trip to Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 28 breaks up a 10-game homestand as the Warhawks will host a three-game series with Nicholls State on Mar. 2-4. Memphis comes to Warhawk Field on Mar. 6-7.
ULM will then head up to Knoxville, Tenn., for a three-game series against Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee on Mar. 9-11. The Warhawks return the trip with Tulane on Mar. 13 before returning home for the start of Sun Belt Conference play and a seven-game homestand.
The Warhawks will once again open SBC play against in-state rival UL-Lafayette. The Ragin Cajuns will make the trip to Monroe on Mar. 16-18 for a three-game series. McNeese State will make the trek to Warhawk Field on Mar. 21 before the Warhawks host South Alabama for a three-game conference series on Mar. 23-25.
A trip to Southern Miss on Mar. 27 precedes ULM’s first Sun Belt road series of the season. The Warhawks travel to Miami, Fla., the final weekend of March for a series against the defending league champions, FIU.
In-state foe Northwestern State visits Warhawk Field on Apr. 3 to break up a string of nine out of 10 on the road. The Warhawks will then hit the road for their second straight SBC series away from home as they visit Arkansas State (Apr. 6-8) for the first time since 2008.
ULM and Baylor will renew a series that has been dormant since 1999 when the Warhawks travel to Waco, Texas, for two games on Apr. 10-11.
The Warhawks return to Monroe for a pair of Sun Belt series against Florida Atlantic (Apr. 13-15) and Middle Tennessee (Apr. 20-22); it will be MTSU’s first visit to Warhawk Field since 2008. ULM will split the weekend series with a trip to TCU on Apr. 17 for the first meeting between the two schools since 1991.
ULM will be tested down the stretch of the season as 11 of its final 14 games will be on the road. The Warhawks travel to Northwestern State on Apr. 25 before heading up to Western Kentucky for a three-game SBC series on Apr. 27-29. ULM then returns to the trip to McNeese State on May 1.
UALR will close out the home schedule for the Warhawks with a three-game series on May 4-6 at Warhawk Field. ULM wraps up the regular season with conference series at Troy (May 11-13) and ULL (May 17-19).
The top eight teams in the Sun Belt will converge on Bowling Green, Ky., for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament May 22-26.
2012 Louisiana-Monroe Baseball Schedule (PDF)
