FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island baseball head coach Jim Foster has released his club’s 2012 schedule. Rhody’s slate is highlighted by a trip to Nashville for a three-game set with Vanderbilt, which was just credited with the nations top recruiting class. The Commodores also advanced to last season’s College World Series and spent time ranked as the country’s No. 1 team.
The Rams will also travel to Florida State – during their Atlantic 10 bye week (April 27-29) – for three games against the Seminoles, who competed in last season’s NCAA Super Regionals as well as the 2010 CWS.
“As always, we’ve put together a very challenging schedule for our guys,” said Foster. “For early non-conference games, we like to schedule some of the top teams in the country to help prepare us for what lies ahead in the Atlantic 10.”
URI opens the season with a three-game series at William & Mary (Feb. 17-19) before heading to the College of Charleston Cougar Invitational. There, Rhody will take on host team C of C, Xavier (non-conference game) and Connecticut.
From there, the Rams travel to Vandy for a March 2-4 series with the Commodores before playing the next eight games in California, where they will play a three-game set at Pepperdine (March 9-11), two games at Cal State Northridge (March 13-14) and three at UC Santa Barbara (March 16-18).
Once back on the East Coast, Rhode Island will play a non-conference game at Sacred Heart on March 21. The Rams will then host the defending Atlantic 10 champions when Charlotte comes to Kingston to open up league play on March 23-25.
Other home A-10 series include: George Washington (April 6-8), Xavier (April 20-22) and Richmond (May 11-13).
“I really like the home portion of our league schedule,” Foster explained. “Charlotte, Xavier and Richmond all qualified for last year’s A-10 tournament so we’re fortunate to be facing those three teams here on our home field this season.”
The Rams will travel to play three-game conference series at Saint Joseph’s (March 30-April 1), St. Bonaventure (April 13-15), Fordham (May 4-6), and Temple (May 17-19).
URI’s non-conference home schedule features games against Iona (March 27), Northeastern (April 3), Bryant (April 11), Brown (April 24) and Hartford (April 25).
Rhode Island will also face non-conference opponents Central Connecticut (April 4), Quinnipiac (April 10), Boston College (April 17), Stony Brook (April 18), Northeastern (May 14) and Connecticut (May 15) on the road.
“I feel as though we were able to put together a very attractive schedule for both our fans and players,” added Foster. “We’re looking forward to getting the new season started.”
The Rams – who have made conference-best nine consecutive A-10 tournament appearances – will look to continue their streak at this year’s league championship, hosted by Fordham at Houlihan Park (May 23-26).
