FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
BALTIMORE, Md. – First year Head Coach Bob Mumma and the UMBC baseball team released its 2012 schedule. The 53-game schedule includes 23 games at Baseball Factory Field at UMBC in addition to road trips to Winston Salem, N.C. and New Orleans, La.
The schedule includes seven games against Navy and Maine, both of whom made the NCAA Baseball Championships field a year ago.
To start the season the Retrievers will travel to North Carolina to take on Georgetown, host Wake Forest, and Cincinnati in a series of four games over three days from Feb. 24-26. Later in the season UMBC will continue its series with Georgetown by traveling to Washington, D.C. on April 3 and the Hoyas finish the series by making a return trip to Baltimore on May 1.
“It’s always a great trip when you get an opportunity to play in an ACC quality facility,” Mumma said. “It will be very exciting and a great experience to start fresh with a trip to Wake Forest.”
UMBC returns back to Baltimore and opens its regular season slate with a three-game series against Army the following weekend, March 2-4.
Another highlight of the team’s first year under Mumma will be a trip to New Orleans to take on Tulane during spring break (March 23-25). UMBC last traveled to the Big Easy to play the Green Wave to open the 2004 season.
The first weekend of April brings with it the start of America East play where the Retrievers will play host to 2011 conference tournament champion Maine in back-to-back days of doubleheaders on Fri., April 6 and Sat., April 7. UMBC will then take on conference opponents the following six weeks through the season-ending series with Binghamton just before the America East Championships.
“It’s all about league play and the chance to make it to the NCAA Baseball Championships. The top four teams in the conference regular season make it to the America East tournament, so that is our goal,” said Coach Mumma.
The remainder of America East play will consist of a six game home-and-home series with 2011 regular champions Stony Brook as well as a six-game series with Binghamton. The Retrievers will host Albany for four games in late April while making a trip to Hartford for four games in early May to round out America East play.
Breaking up the weekend conference matchups, the Retrievers will take on local rivals Towson, George Washington, and Mount Saint Mary’s in addition to Georgetown in midweek games.
“The local rivalries provide us a chance to go up against great programs and to measure ourselves,” Mumma stated. We’ll get to compete against old friends and teammates and see where we are in the area.”
