FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler baseball program will join the BIG EAST conference for the 2014 season after posting a 25-27 record one year ago in the Atlantic 10. The Bulldogs return A-10 All-Rookie Team selection Mike Kseniak to the lineup in hopes of making the BIG EAST Conference Tournament which will be held in Brooklyn N.Y. from May 21-25.
Four neutral site games will kick-off the new season for Butler as the Bulldogs travel to Cary, N.C. to play Wright State, St. Joseph’s, Albany and Canisius at the USA Baseball Complex. The next string of games for Butler will be played at the Wofford University Tournament in South Carolina. Tournament teams scheduled to play Butler include Pittsburgh, Wofford and South Carolina-Upstate.
Additional highlights to the 2014 schedule include the home opener against Marian which is slated for Wednesday, March 5 and the start of BIG EAST play on Friday April 4 when the Seton Hall Pirates head to Indianapolis. Butler scheduled a home and road single game against Big Ten opponent Purdue and they will have the opportunity to play at Victory Field again this year on Wednesday, April 23 when they face in-state rival Indiana State at 3 p.m.
Non-conference opponents featured on the 2014 schedule includes Samford, IPFW, Mercer, Western Michigan, Western Illinois, Wabash, Louisville, Ball State, Kalamazoo, Northern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois.
The three-game Samford series will be played on the road from Feb. 28-March 2. Marian serves as the home opener, but the first home series will include a three-game setup vs. IPFW from March 7-9.
Butler will play two on the road at Mercer (March 11-12) before hosting the Broncos from March 14-16. An eight-game road trip will follow the weekend series against Western Michigan as Butler plays at Purdue, Western Michigan, Wabash, Louisville and IPFW leading up to their BIG EAST home opener vs. Seton Hall on April 4.
St. John’s will be the second BIG EAST opponent on the schedule as the ‘Dogs head East to face the Red Strom in mid-April. The rest of the conference schedule shows Butler hosting Xavier and Georgetown but playing at Creighton and Villanova.
Single games against Ball State, Purdue, Indiana State, Kalamazoo, Northern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois all fall on weekdays during the BIG EAST schedule.
