OXFORD, Ohio — A pair of trips to Greenville, S.C. and home-and-home series with local rivals Indiana, Dayton, Xavier and Cincinnati highlight the 2013 Miami Baseball schedule, head coach Dan Simonds announced today. Miami will host 20 games at McKie Field, including the league series against Kent State and Miami for the first time in three years.
“We are very excited about the quality of our 2013 schedule,” Simonds said. “I know our players are looking forward to not only competing against some of the premier programs in the country, but also playing in some tremendous venues as well. The strength of our non-conference schedule will prepare us for the challenges of Mid-American Conference play.”
The 2013 campaign opens with back-to-back trips to Fleur Field, home of the the Boston Red Sox’ Single-A affiliate, the Greenville (S.C.) Drive. Over the first weekend (Feb. 15-17), the RedHawks face Michigan State, Northwestern and Furman, then return for games against Furman, Western Carolina and Michigan State seven days later. After a trip to Mercer on the first weekend in March, Miami travels to Xavier for its first midweek game on Tuesday, March 6.
After a one-year absence, the Russ Matt Invitational in the Orlando, Fla. area is the spring break trip destination with seven games in eight days. Those opponents will be announced later this year.
The home schedule starts on Tuesday, March 19 when Indiana comes to McKie Field. The following day, the RedHawks return to Bloomington to open the Hoosiers’ brand-new stadium, Bart Kaufman Field. The Mid-American Conference schedule opens March 22 with a home series against Eastern Michigan. Kent State (April 12-14), Ball State (April 19-21), Buffalo (May 10-12) and Ohio (May 16-18) also make the trip to Oxford.
Road series in the league have the RedHawks travelling to Toledo (March 29-31), Akron (April 5-7), Northern Illinois (April 26-28) and Bowling Green (May 3-5).
Miami will participate in the Fifth Annual Joe Nuxhall Classic April 9-10. Cincinnati will serve as host to the RedHawks, Xavier and Wright State this year. Other late-season non-conference games include the return of Xavier to McKie Field on March 26, a trip to Ohio State April 3, plus home-and-home matchups with Dayton (April 23-24) and Cincinnati (April 30-May 1).
