FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois head baseball coach Jim Schmitz has announced the 2012 baseball schedule, highlighted by games against teams from nine different conferences as well as two 2011 NCAA Tournament participants.
The season begins with 23 games away from Charleston, starting with a season-opening tournament at Jackson State. EIU faces Mississippi Valley State on Feb. 17 before playing a doubleheader the following day against host Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State. The Panthers conclude the tournament by playing Jackson State again on Feb. 19.
EIU plays a three-game series at Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 24-26 before participating at the Evansville Tournament for the second straight year on March 2-4, playing the host Purple Aces twice and Summit League member IPFW once throughout the tournament.
EIU opens its spring break trip with a three-game series at South Florida on March 9-11. The Panthers then they play four games in a tournament in Davenport, Fla., on March 13-16.
The Panthers home opener is slated for March 27 against Saint Louis in a midweek matchup. EIU plays a total of 12 midweek games, including home contests against Illinois College (April 11), Benedictine University (April 25) and Bradley (May 15).
Road midweek matchups include contests at Louisville (Feb. 28), Indiana State (March 6), Southern Illinois (March 20), Illinois State (April 3), Illinois (April 10), Western Illinois (April 24) and Saint Louis (May 8). EIU also plays a neutral site midweek game against Illinois on April 18 at Peterson Park in Mattoon.
Ohio Valley Conference action begins at home against Southeast Missouri State on March 23-25. EIU also faces Austin Peay (April 5-7), Morehead State (April 20-22) and UT Martin (May 11-13) in home OVC series.
Road OVC action starts on March 23-25 at SIU Edwardsville. Other road OVC series include playing at Eastern Kentucky (April 13-15), Tennessee Tech (April 27-29), Murray State (May 4-6) and Jacksonville State (May 17-19).
The conference tournament will be played in Jackson, Tenn., on May 23-36 at Pringles Park. It will mark the third consecutive year that the double-elimination tournament has been played at the venue.
Full 2012 Eastern Illinois Schedule
