FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Hartford baseball coach Justin Blood announced a 55-game schedule for his second season at the helm of the Hawks in 2013. The schedule includes 41 dates, highlighted by a trip to the deep south for games against Troy University and Southeast Louisiana in Troy, Ala.
The Hawks first 13 games will all come on the road as they beat out the winter weather in the Northeast by traveling to Buies Creek, N.C., Harrisonburg, Va. and Troy, Ala. Hartford will open the 2013 season with a four-game series at Campbell University against the Fighting Camels. The series will begin with a single game on Friday, March 22 before a doubleheader on Saturday and a since game on Sunday afternoon. Last season, Campbell finished the year with a 41-18 overall record and a 15-9 mark in the Big South Conference.
The second series of the season will be a four-game set at James Madison, a member of the Colonia Athletic Association. The series, schedule for four games, will begin with a single game on Friday, March, 1 and conclude with a single game on Sunday, March 3, both sandwiching a double header on Saturday. Overall, the Hawks and Dukes have met four previous times with JMU holding a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series.
Following the trip to Harrisonburg, Va., Hartford will travel to Troy, Ala. for four games, two against the Troy Trojans and two against the Southeast Louisiana Lions. The three day-trip begins with a single game against the Trojans on Friday before facing both Troy and Southeast Louisiana in a double header on Saturday. The weekend concludes with a single contest against the Lions on Sunday.
Hartford will then return to the Northeast for its home opener and conference opener hosting the Albany Great Danes for three games on March 16 and 17. Both dates will feature noon starts at Fiondella Field. Last season, the Hawks finished 26 home dates with a 13-13 overall record. The conference opening series against Albany will be the first three games in a 30-game league schedule. The six league schools will play a six-game series against each other, a pair of three-game home-and-home series’.
Among the remaining 13 home dates on the schedule following Albany, the Hawks will host Connecticut, Holy Cross, Rhode Island, Northeastern and Central Connecticut at Fiondella Field. Other non-conference opponents the Hawks will travel to meet include Massachusetts, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, Boston College and Army.
The final three dates on the schedule are all slated to be played in West Hartford, the first a mid-week match-up with the CCSU Blue Devils on Wednesday, May 15. The Hawks will then close out the regular season with a three-game conference series against Stony Brook with the top-four teams in the league earning berths in the America East Championship. The double-elimination tournament is scheduled for May 22-25 and will be contested at the home field of the highest seeded team.
