Baseball Announces 2004 Schedule
08/05/2003 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Aug. 5, 2003
By: Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Three top-30 teams, including NCAA College World Series participant Southwest Missouri State, highlight a solid 50-plus game schedule for the Southern Illinois University baseball team in 2004. Along with SMS, the Salukis face Florida Atlantic and Notre Dame, who also made NCAA Tournament appearances a year ago.
One of the most exciting parts of SIU's upcoming season is that the Dawgs will host the Fighting Irish in a two-game series at Abe Martin Field on March 20-21. This year marks the first time in school history that ND visits "The Abe." Both teams have met seven times prior to this year, but none of those games have been played on either team's home diamond.
ND is definitely one of the stronger opponents SIU tangles with this spring. In 2003, the Fighting Irish became only the second school in the Big East to win back-to-back tournament championships. After defeating Big East regular-season champ Rutgers to clinch the crown, ND made it to the NCAA Super Regional Championship, where it lost to eventual CWS semi-finalist Cal State Fullerton. The Fighting Irish finished the year at an impressive 45-18 and ranked 28th by Collegiate Baseball and 29th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
But before it takes on the Irish, SIU must play 10 of its first 14 games on the road. For any team, that can be a challenge in itself, especially when you open the year with three-game sets at FAU and Vanderbilt.
The Salukis make their 2004 debut at FAU, Friday-Sunday, Feb. 13-15. The Owls collected a 47-16 record, an Atlantic Sun title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament last season. FAU was also ranked among the top-25 in four national polls - 23rd by both Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America, 25th by Sports Weekly/ESPN and 22nd by NCBWA.
After its trip to the Sunshine State, SIU heads to Nashville, Tenn., to play Vanderbilt the following week. Vanderbilt went 27-28 and placed second in the east division of the SEC last season. Additionally, the Commodores advanced to their first SEC Tournament in seven years.
Also listed early on is a three-game home series against Northern Illinois, Feb. 27-29, and another trip to the Irish Classic in San Antonio, Texas, March 6-9. SIU, who makes its fourth visit to the Irish Classic under head coach Dan Callahan, will join ND, Penn State and Texas-San Antonio at the event.
Rounding out the Salukis' non-conference opponents are Murray State, SE Missouri State, Saint Louis, Illinois and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In addition to its non-league card, SIU plays a tough 32-game Missouri Valley Conference schedule. This year, the Dawgs play SMS, Wichita State, Illinois State and Northern Iowa on the road, and Bradley, Evansville, Creighton and Indiana State at home.
SMS, who was eliminated from the MVC Tournament a year ago, made its first-ever NCAA Division I CWS appearance after winning the Lincoln, Neb., Regional and the Columbus, Ohio Super Regional. The Bears recorded a 40-26 mark and finished eighth in the final Collegiate Baseball National Poll.
WSU also made the NCAA Tournament after clinching the league's automatic berth with a pair of wins over the Salukis in the championship round of the MVC Tournament.
SIU, who knocked off both SMS and WSU in the MVC Tournament last season, advanced to the tourney's championship round for the first time since 1990. The Salukis' magical run, however, fell one win shy of clinching the Valley's automatic NCAA berth. The Dawgs finished at 30-25 overall and 17-13 in the MVC.