Wednesday, August 20, 2003

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Aug. 20, 2003) - Strong competition at home as well as on the road highlight the 2004 East Tennessee State baseball schedule, released by Buccaneer head coach Tony Skole Wednesday afternoon. ETSU will open the season with a road trip from Feb. 13-18 to face South Florida in Tampa, Fla., followed by national power Georgia in Athens, Ga. The Bucs will then return to Johnson City for their home opener against Xavier on Feb. 21. In addition to South Florida and Georgia, the Bucs will play road games against such teams as Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. Among ETSU's 28 home games from Howard Johnson Field are contests with Central Michigan, Tennessee, Ball State, UNC Asheville, Radford, Tennessee Tech and Virginia Tech. The Buccaneers will also play the Hokies in the annual Kingsport Classic on April 27 from Hunter Wright Stadium in Kingsport, Tenn. ETSU opens their Southern Conference schedule at Davidson on Mar. 5-7. The Bucs will host conference rivals UNC Greensboro, Western Carolina, Appalachian State, The Citadel and Furman this season, while playing Davidson, Georgia Southern, Elon, Wofford and College of Charleston on the road. "We are very excited about our schedule for next season," said Skole. "Once again our schedule presents a great challenge for our program. As we continue to play against top-flight competition, we hope the difficulty of our schedule will prepare us for post-season opportunities."