FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The grid for a new era of Temple Baseball is set and laid out. First-year head coach Ryan Wheeler has officially released the schedule of opponents that the Owls will face in the 2012 season.
Temple enters 2012 looking to improve on last season’s 24-29 (4-20, A-10) finish. The Owls currently have 52 dates scheduled in 2012, in which they will play 54 games. Live stats will be provided on owlsports.com for all home games and most away games. Times are still yet to be determined for several road games. Continue to check owlsports.com for updates on the schedule, as all dates and times are subject to change.
“I’m looking forward to our season, which is one that will be challenging from start to finish,” Wheeler said. “We’re going to play some teams that will present us with very good competition early in the season, so that will give us an indication of how good we are and what we need to improve on going down the stretch. Our road schedule and our conference schedule are going be tough; especially our A-10 games at home, but we’re excited to take on the challenges that await us this spring.”
Temple will open its next baseball campaign on Feb. 17 when its travels to Norfolk, Va. to open a three-game set with Old Dominion to ultimately begin a 12-game road swing to start the season. Before wrapping up the trip, the Owls will make their way to meet North Carolina A&T and Longwood in back-to-back weekend series’, before wrapping up the road swing with single games at Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.
Wheeler brings the Owls back to Ambler for the first time in 2012 on March 9 to commence the home portion of the schedule with a four-game homestand at Skip Wilson Field. Maryland-Eastern Shore will open Temple’s 2012 home slate before the Owls host Iona, Central Connecticut and La Salle.
The Owls will begin playing for the Liberty Bell Classic when they welcome Saint Joseph’s on March 27 at Skip Wilson Field to determine whether they will face Delaware or Lehigh in the second round on April 3. The 2012 Liberty Bell Classic final is scheduled to be held on April 10 at Citizens Bank Park.
Atlantic 10 Conference play gets underway March 23 for Temple when the team goes to St. Louis where it will open a weekend series with the Billikens.
Before playing a conference series on their home field, the Owls will play their final non-conference three-game series (two away, one home) against 2011 Northeast Conference regular season champion Monmouth (March 30-April 1).
Temple hosts its first A-10 series during the weekend of April 13-15 when defending A-10 regular season champion Charlotte comes to Ambler.
Rounding out the remainder of the conference agenda, Temple visits Fordham (April 7-8), Massachusetts (April 27-29) and St. Bonaventure (May 11-13) in between hosting Richmond (April 20-22), Dayton (May 4-6), and 2011 A-10 Champion Rhode Island on the final weekend of the regular season (May 17-19).
Fordham is the site of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament, which will be held during the weekend of May 23-26.
