Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Announces Complete 2012 Baseball Schedule
11/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Complete 2012 Schedule
MOUNT PLEASANT - The Central Michigan baseball team announced its complete 2012 schedule Tuesday, one that features series with three NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a year ago and 19 games at Theunissen Stadium.
The Chippewas will play their first 16 games of the season on the road, playing four-game series at NCAA Tournament qualifiers Troy (Feb. 17-19) and Stetson (Feb. 24-26) before traveling to McNeese State for a four-game series (March 2-4).
One of the highlights of the 2012 season will be when the Maroon and Gold travel to Manoa, Hawaii for its first series versus the Hawaii Warriors, March 7-10 over spring recess.
"When we bring our players in, we want them to know they are going to have a great experience at Central Michigan University," head coach Steve Jaksa said. "We are very excited about our non-conference schedule, including the trip to Hawaii. We pride ourselves on playing some of the best competition in the nation and I believe we were able to put together a schedule where we will play top-notch teams all year."
CMU will return home from the Hawaii trip for its first home game of the season at Theunissen Stadium on March 13 versus Madonna, before it hosts Northwood on March 20. The Chippewas will play a three-game series at Tennessee Tech (March 16-18) between the two home games.
Mid-American Conference play will open at Theunissen Stadium on March 23 when the two-time defending West Division champions host Buffalo for the start of a three-game set. The rest of CMU's home conference schedule includes visits by Toledo (April 6-8), 2011 MAC Champion Kent State (April 20-22), Ball State (May 11-13) and rival Western Michigan (May 17-19)
CMU's conference road schedule includes trips to Bowling Green (March 30-April 1), Eastern Michigan (April 13-15), Akron (April 27-29) and Northern Illinois (May 4-6).
As announced last Tuesday, CMU will play the second-annual "Clash at Comerica" in Detroit to wrap up a three-game season series with the Michigan State Spartans on May 15. The two teams will also play single games in East Lansing, on March 28 at 3:05 p.m., and in Mount Pleasant, on April 18 at 3:05 p.m.
In-state foes Oakland and Michigan are also featured on the 2012 schedule as the Chippewas will play a home and home with the Golden Grizzlies (April 11 and 17) and will travel to Ann Arbor (April 4).
The Chippewas will travel to Notre Dame on April 25 and square off versus Seattle, for the first time in program history, in a doubleheader at Theunissen Stadium May 9.
The 2012 MAC Tournament will move from Chillicothe to Avon, Ohio for the first time and be played at All Pro Freight Stadium, home of the Frontier League Lake Erie Crushers. The stadium features an artificial turf surface, with the exception of the pitchers mound, batter's box and bullpen, and has a total capacity of over 5,000. The tournament kicks off May 22 and runs through May 26.
