Baseball Southern Conference

Wofford announced 2005 baseball schedule

Nineteen games against teams that advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament highlight the 2005 schedule for the Wofford baseball team.

The Terriers will have 35 home dates in their second season at Russell C. King Field.

Wofford's 56-game schedule opens with a three-game SoCon series at Elon (Feb. 5-6). The Terriers and Phoenix will play a Feb. 5 noon doubleheader and a 1 p.m. single game Feb. 6.

The Terriers make their 2005 Russell C. King Field debut the following weekend versus Dayton (Feb. 12-13).

Stony Book comes to Wofford for three games Feb. 26-27, marking the first of five three-game series for the Terriers against teams that reached postseason play last season. Four of those sets are at home.

Wofford also hosts 2004 NCAA Tournament teams Youngstown State (March 5-6), Western Kentucky (March 11-13) and College of Charleston (March 25-26).

The Terriers took two of three games from the Penguins last season at Russell C. King Field. The series with the Cougars is also the SoCon home opener. With Easter Sunday falling on March 27, Wofford and Charleston will meet in a March 26 1 p.m. doubleheader to close that series.

Wofford welcomes South Carolina to Russell C. King Field on March 16 at 7 p.m., while traveling to Columbia to face the Gamecocks in single games March 2 and May 18. The Terriers also visit Clemson April 27. Rounding out the contests against 2004 postseason teams is a three-game series at The Citadel (April 1-3).

Wofford hosts Davidson (April 8-10), Furman (April 22-24), UNC Greensboro (May 6-8) and Western Carolina (May 20-22) in SoCon play. The Terriers travel to Appalachian State (March 19-20), East Tennessee State (April 15-17) and Georgia Southern (April 29-May 1).

"We've always tried to play a competitive non-conference schedule," Wofford coach Steve Traylor said. "The SoCon is demanding every year and we've tried to prepare for that by playing the likes of Clemson and South Carolina.

"The best way to evaluate your non-conference schedule is by looking at the number of regional appearances by your opponents."

Last year's schedule saw Wofford face six teams that advanced to postseason play with 14 of the 47 games (29.8 percent) coming against those squads. The 2005 slate has 33.9 percent (19-of-56) of its contests against NCAA Tournament participants.

The 2005 Terriers return five position starters (catcher Scott Holloway, first baseman David Long, second baseman Anthony Dinardo and outfielders Stephen Johnson and Zach Pittman) from last year's squad that posted Wofford's second-highest victory total in nine years of Division I play. It was accomplished with the Terriers playing their fewest games since 1998.

Wofford also returns six of its top eight pitchers from a year ago. Nearly 40 percent of Wofford's innings came from freshmen in 2004.

The SoCon Tournament will again be held at Joe Riley Park in Charleston, S.C (May 25-28).

The complete 2005 Wofford baseball schedule can be found at the following site:

http://www.wofford.info/athletics/schedule.asp?sport=BBALL&season=0405