FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
INDIANAPOLIS – A new conference schedule and two games at 2012 College World Series Champ Arizona highlight the 2013 Butler baseball schedule. The Bulldogs are scheduled to have 20 home dates, welcoming teams such as Saint Louis, Indiana, Fordham, Rhode Island and Xavier to Bulldog Park.
After playing a set against IPFW in their first home series of the year March 8-10, the Bulldogs will travel to Arizona for two games during Spring Break March 12-13. From Tuscon, BU will finish the week with a series at Texas State.
“One of the highlights for me at Butler is being able to schedule some games each year against nationally ranked opponents,” head coach Steve Farley said. “When you think of top college baseball programs, you think of teams like Arizona, South Carolina, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Fresno State, North Carolina, Wichita State, Alabama and others. Bulldog players I’ve coached have had the opportunity to compete against all of those schools.”
“I think it’s part of the whole student-athlete experience that we talk about at Butler. Our players look forward to playing big-time opponents and it’s a thrill for me to get to coach against some of the greats in the college game.”
Farley has a long-standing connection to the Arizona program, as he was a graduate assistant from 1982-83. That season, the current Butler coach helped Arizona lay the foundation to its 1986 national championship.
The 2013 season will mark Butler’s first as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, and the new league has issued the Dawgs a challenging 24-game conference schedule. Butler opens A-10 play at VCU, a team that has made eight NCAA tourney appearances since 1998. Other Atlantic 10 road trips will take Butler to St. Bonaventure, Dayton and Charlotte.
Butler will also play Indiana in a three-game series April 19-21. The first two games will be in Bloomington and the third game will be at Butler. The Bulldogs will also play road games at in-state foes Purdue, Indiana State and Ball State.
