Baseball Announces 2005 Schedule
11/09/2004 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
Nov. 9, 2004
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
Click Here to View 2005 Schedule
CARBONDALE, Ill. - It's always been Southern Illinois University head coach Dan Callahan's philosophy to play good teams early on. The Salukis will do so again in 2005, as four NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago highlight a solid schedule.
"We feel that playing quality programs early on will help prepare us for the always tough Missouri Valley Conference season, and hopefully beyond," stated Callahan.
SIU opens the season with a three-game series at Stetson on Feb. 11-13. The Hatters went 36-23 and made the Atlantic Sun Championship game a year ago. The Salukis took two of three games from Stetson the last time they visited Deland, Fla., in 1999.
After traveling to the University of New Orleans (Feb. 18-20) for a three-game series the following weekend, SIU heads to Oxford, Miss., for a tough test against Ole Miss (Feb. 25-27).
The Rebels, who posted a 39-21 overall record, finished the 2004 season ranked among the top-25 in three polls (Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, Sports Weekly/ESPN). Ole Miss also advanced to the championship game of its own NCAA Regional, where it lost to Washington.
SIU faces two other 2004 NCAA Tournament participants in non-conference action. The Salukis play Middle Tennessee State on Mar. 15-16 and Missouri on May 17.
MTSU (40-22) won a share of the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title, before losing to Birmingham Southern in the elimination game of the Athens (Ga.) Regional.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 member Tigers (38-23-1) advanced to the Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional, as their 38 wins were the most in a season since 1996.
Following its first 10 games on the road, SIU returns to Abe Martin Field to host Northern Illinois (Mar. 4-6) in its home opener.
Murray State (Mar. 2, Apr. 6), SE Missouri State (Mar. 9, Apr. 27), Chicago State (Mar. 11-13), Western Michigan (Mar. 18-20), Tennessee-Martin (Mar. 29, Apr. 19), Eastern Illinois (Apr. 12), Illinois (May 3), Saint Louis (May 4) and South Dakota State (May 13-15) are also on the Dawgs' non-league slate.
In the Valley, the league switches to a three-game series format for the first time since 1994. MVC schools have been playing four-game sets for the last 10 years.
Callahan says the scheduling change has its advantages.
"What's interesting about the three-game format is that there will always be series winner," quoted Callahan. "In the past, it's always been the goal to win three of four games or sweep, which can be quite difficult in the MVC."
"I think anytime you can win two of three games in this league, whether it's at home or on the road, it's a feather in your cap," continued Callahan.
Wichita State (May 6-8) and Southwest Missouri State (Apr. 15-17) have been the staples of the league, and SIU plays both teams at home this season.
"We feel we've closed the gap on both teams and it's always nice to play such good programs at home," commented Callahan.
The 2004 MVC regular-season and tournament champion Shockers were 49-16 and advanced to the NCAA Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional Championship, where they lost to Arkansas, an eventual College World Series participant.
SMS, on the other hand, finished third in the Valley with a 31-28 record, including a 19-12 mark in league play.
Along with the Bears and Shockers, Northern Iowa (Mar. 25-27) and Illinois State (May 19-21) also visit the "Abe."
As for SIU's conference schedule away from home, it consists of trips to Creighton (Apr. 1-3), Bradley (Apr. 8-10), Evansville (Apr. 22-24) and Indiana State (Apr. 29-May 1).
Of the four, CU had the best outing in 2004. In fact, the Bluejays finished second in the conference with an overall 35-24, 22-9 MVC mark.
When asked about the parity of the MVC and how the Salukis fit into this year's conference race, Callahan was somewhat non-committal as far as predicting the final standings.
"Valley weekends are wars and it doesn't matter who you're playing," he said. "You always face good pitching and you can never take a day off. The MVC is very balanced and competitive, but I like our chances."
After losing its first 12 games, SIU ended up with an overall record of 27-32-1, and finished fourth in the MVC (15-16-1) a year ago. The Salukis also made a return trip to the MVC Tournament Championship, where they dropped two games to WSU for the second year in a row.