2003
Vanderbilt Baseball Schedule Highlighted By 18 Opponents With
Recent Trips to NCAA Tournament 10/29/02
 Thirty-six
games against 18 opponents with recent NCAA Tournament berths
will highlight the 2003 Vanderbilt baseball schedule announced
today by new Commodore coach Tim Corbin.
More than 65 percent of the Commodores’ 55-game schedule
consists of opponents that reached either the 2001 or 2002 NCAA
Tournament, including four games against 2002 College World
Series participants Notre Dame and South Carolina. Six games
are scheduled against 2001 CWS participants Georgia and Tennessee.
In all, Vanderbilt plays 13 games against teams that finished
2002 ranked among the top 25 in the country.
“Without question this is a very challenging schedule,”
Corbin said. “The SEC alone sent seven teams to a regional
last year. The conference makes up more major leaguers than
any other league in the nation. The bottom line is once you
get through a season in the SEC you are game tested. Going off
to play in a regional will not be overwhelming to any team in
this league with what they have been through during the regular
season.”
Vanderbilt’s season opener is Feb. 14 against Old Dominion
at the three-day Citadel Tournament in Charleston, S.C. The
Commodores also will face The Citadel and James Madison in the
tournament.
The Commodores open their 29-game home schedule Feb. 18 against
East Tennessee State, beginning a season-long nine-game homestand.
The stretch concludes with the Music City Classic, Feb. 28-March
2. Rutgers, Kent State and Kansas will participate in the classic.
Each of the three teams will play at Lipscomb or Belmont when
not competing against the Commodores at Hawkins Field. Kent
State has made appearances in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments
while Rutgers had made the NCAA Tournament four of the past
five seasons.
Vanderbilt travels to Jacksonville, Fla., during Spring Break
for four games at Jacksonville University (March 4-8). Opponents
include Jacksonville, Central Michigan, Michigan State and Notre
Dame, which ended 2002 ranked No. 6.
Vanderbilt starts its Southeastern Conference schedule on the
road at Mississippi State, March 14-16. Ole Miss comes to Hawkins
Field the following weekend, March 21-23 for the Commodores’
conference home opener. Other SEC home series include dates
with Ole Miss (March 21-23), Florida (April 4-6), LSU (April
18-20), Auburn (April 25-27) and Tennessee (May 16-18). LSU
(No. 11) and Florida (No. 15) ended the year with national rankings.
The Commodores also face SEC road series at South Carolina (March
28-30), Arkansas (April 11-13), Georgia (May 2-4) and Kentucky
(May 9-11). The Razorbacks finished the year No. 18 in the country
after advancing to an NCAA super regional.
Besides the home opener against East Tennessee State and the
Music City Classic, Vanderbilt also battles non-conference foes
Cincinnati (Feb, 21-23), Belmont (Feb. 26), Lipscomb (March
11, 19), Austin Peay (March 25, April 22), Western Kentucky
(April 1, May 6), Evansville (April 8) and Middle Tennessee
(April 15, May 13).
The top eight conference teams (based on league win percentage)
reach the SEC Tournament, May 21-25, in Birmingham, Ala. |
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