FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Home-and-home series with Florida, Auburn and Alabama, and a series at Oklahoma highlight Samford’s 2012 baseball schedule, released by head coach Casey Dunn on Tuesday.
“This year’s schedule is by the far the most difficult our staff has put together in our time at Samford,” Dunn said. “Our thought process coming into this year was that we would have a very experienced team and we wanted to make sure we gave them the opportunity to compete against the best competition possible. The Southern Conference is traditionally a top 10 baseball conference and I expect this year to be as good as we have seen in our four years in the conference.
“In addition to our normal midweek matchups we are excited to add a home and home series with Florida,” Dunn said. “Returning the bulk of their team that is coming off back to back College World Series appearances I expect them to be the top ranked team in the country this year. Adding them to our home slate that already includes Alabama and Auburn should provide some great home games for us at `The Griff’ (Joe Lee Griffin Field) this year. Also, our kids are looking forward to finishing the year on the road at Oklahoma for a three-game series.”
The Bulldogs, coming off the most successful season in program history, will open the 2012 season with a three-game home series with Radford, Feb. 17-19. Samford will play its fourth-straight home game to open the season when it plays host to Alabama A&M on Feb. 21.
Samford will then play its next five games on the road. During the stretch, Samford will play a game at Jacksonville State (Feb. 22), three games at South Alabama (Feb. 24-26) and one game at Troy (Feb. 28).
Next up, the Bulldogs will return home for a three-game series against Penn State (Mar. 3-5), and a single home game against Jacksonville State (Mar. 7).
The Bulldogs will open Southern Conference play with a series at UNC Greensboro, Mar. 9-11. The team will then play a midweek game at Alabama. The game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., will mark the first of six games for the Bulldogs against Southeastern Conference teams this season.
Samford will then play its first home SoCon series against Furman, Mar. 16-17. Following the Furman series, the Bulldogs will travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the first of two games against the Florida Gators on Mar. 20.
The Bulldogs will then stay on the road for a SoCon series at Wofford, Mar. 23-25. Samford will then play host to Auburn on Mar. 27, before hosting Elon in a SoCon series, Mar. 30-Apr. 1.
Next up, Samford will travel to take on Alabama A&M on Apr. 3. The Bulldogs will then play host to The Citadel in a SoCon series, Apr. 6-8, at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The Bulldogs will then travel to Auburn for a midweek game on Apr. 10. That weekend, Samford will play a SoCon series at College of Charleston, Apr. 13-15.
Samford will play two midweek games that following week. The Bulldogs will take on cross-town rival UAB, playing the Blazers on Apr. 17 at UAB’s Young Memorial Field, and playing host to the Blazers on Apr. 18 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
Samford will then play host to Western Carolina for a conference series, Apr. 20-22, before playing host to Alabama on Apr. 24. Next up is a SoCon series at Davidson, Apr. 27-29, followed by a home game against Troy on May 1.
Samford’s final two SoCon series will be at Georgia Southern, May 4-6, and a home series against Appalachian State, May 11-13.
The Bulldogs’ final midweek game will be on May 15 against 2011 College World Series participant, Florida. Samford will then wrap up its regular-season with a series at Oklahoma, May 17-19.
The Southern Conference Tournament, which will be held in Greenville, S.C., is scheduled for May 23-27 at Fluor Field.
