Feb. 20, 2008
The following is the fifth part in a five-part series previewing the 2008 Mizzou Basebal season. Today we take a look at the Tigers' 2008 schedule.
New NCAA regulation, which has set an official start date for the collegiate baseball season, does two things.First, it pushes back the start of the season, which will benefit teams that are not in warm-weather climates in their preseason preparation and early season scheduling.
Second, with a 56-game schedule still in place, more games will be played per week, meaning teams will have weeks in which they may play as many as five games.
Missouri will open the 2008 season at a tournament at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. The season opener is Feb. 22 against Connecticut. The Tigers will also take on Michigan State and host-school Stetson.
Before leaving Florida, Missouri will face Central Florida on Feb. 25 in Orlando.
After the opening weekend in Florida, the Tigers will head to the West Coast for a tournament in San Diego the following weekend. The tournament is hosted by San Diego University and also includes San Diego State, Cal and Cal-Poly. Games will be played at both San Diego University and San Diego State.
After the eight-game road trip to open the year, the home opener for the Tigers will be March 4, when Western Illinois comes to Taylor Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. That contest kicks off a 13-game homestand to open the home schedule for Mizzou.
Indiana State will be in Columbia for four games in three days, March 7-9.
The following weekend, Toledo comes to Taylor Stadium for a three-game series and South Dakota State visits for a pair of games March 18-19.
Mizzou closes out the opening homestand with its first Big 12 Conference series of the year as Baylor comes to Taylor Stadium March 21-23.
The Tigers will spend Spring Break in Minneapolis for two games at Minnesota (March 25-26) and in Lubbock, Texas for a weekend series with Texas Tech (March 28-30).
MU will have back-to-back home conference series against Oklahoma State (April 4-6) and Texas (April 11-13) followed by two-straight Big 12 road trips to Oklahoma (April 18-20) and Texas A&M (April 25-27).
The Big 12 schedule will conclude for Mizzou with a home series against Kansas State (May 2-4), a trip to Kansas (May 9-11) and a three-game home set with Nebraska (May 16-18).
Once again a fourth contest with Kansas is on the Tigers' schedule, as the two teams are slated to face off in a non-conference game on April 29 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The two teams were scheduled to play at Kauffman last season, but the contest was cancelled due to rain.
Mizzou will also have neutral field games in O'Fallon, Mo. as it returns to T.R. Hughes Ballpark for matchups with Eastern Illinois (April 22) and Southern Illinois (April 23).
A home-and-home series with Missouri State is again on the slate with MSU coming to Taylor Stadium on April 9 and the Tigers traveling to Springfield on May 7.
Other non-conference games scheduled include a second matchup with Western Illinois (April 1) and games against Lincoln (April 2), William Woods (April 16) and Creighton (May 6).
The Big 12 Tournament is May 21-25 in Oklahoma City, Okla. with the NCAA Regionals beginning on May 30. The College World Series gets underway on June 14 in Omaha.
2008 Season Preview
Saturday, Feb. 16 -- PART 1- 2007 Season in Review
Sunday, Feb. 17 -- PART 2- The 2008 Pitching Staff
Monday, Feb. 18 -- PART 3- The 2008 Infielders and Catchers
Tuesday, Feb. 19 -- PART 4- The 2008 Outfielders
Wednesday, Feb. 20 -- PART 5- The 2008 Schedule
