FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State baseball has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2014 season. The Nittany Lions are set to host four Big Ten opponents in Northwestern, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan State. PSU will travel to Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska to complete its Big Ten slate. The 2014 season will be the first at Penn State for head coach Rob Cooper.
“We are very excited about our 2014 schedule and the quality of teams we will be facing,” said Cooper. “We feel as though our non-conference schedule will challenge our team and prepare us for a demanding Big Ten conference schedule. I look forward to seeing the Nittany Lion faithful at our home games this year.”
The Blue and White will spend the first month of the season on the road, traveling to the states of North Carolina, Florida, Maryland and California. The Lions’ season opener will be a four game series against Gardner-Webb from Feb. 14-16. A week later the team will head down south to face South Florida on Feb. 21-23.
Penn State opens the month of March against Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md. before flying to California for its annual spring break trip from March 7-15. While out west, the Nittany Lions will play Saint Mary’s, Fresno State and Santa Clara.
Upon returning from spring break, the Blue and White hosts NYIT on March 18-19 for PSU’s home-opening series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Lions then have a home and away four game series with Bucknell on March 22-23. Penn State hosts the Bison for a doubleheader on the 22nd and then travel to Lewisburg the following day for two games at their place.
Big Ten play begins in the last weekend in March when the Northwestern Wildcats come to Happy Valley for a three-game slate on March 28-30. After commencing the conference part of the schedule vs. NU, the Lions host Youngstown State on April 1 in the first of five Tuesday non-conference matchups in the months of April and May. The other four games include home games against West Virginia on April 8 and Kent State on April 29, while traveling to Kent State on April 22 and Villanova on May 13.
The Nittany Lions will play six consecutive road Big Ten games at Purdue from April 4-6 and at Ohio State on April 11-13 before returning home to host the Fighting Illini for a series on April 18-20.
Penn State then goes on its final Big Ten regular season road trip by making long treks to Minnesota and Nebraska in late April and early May. The Blue and White square off against the Golden Gophers from April 25-27 before heading to Lincoln, Neb. to play the Cornhuskers May 2-4.
PSU wraps up its regular season slate at home vs. the defending Big Ten champions and College World Series qualifier in Indiana followed by a visit from Michigan State for the season finale. The Hoosiers come to town on May 9-11 and then the Spartans arrive the following weekend from May 15-17.
The Big Ten tournament is scheduled from Wednesday, May 21 through Saturday, May 24 in Omaha, Neb. The games will be played at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, home of the NCAA Men’s College World Series.
