Baseball Releases 2004 Schedule
10/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Oct. 1, 2003
East Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan State baseball team announced its schedule for the upcoming 2004 season, Wednesday (Oct. 1). The schedule will feature games against 15 non-conference foes as well as eight Big Ten opponents. The Spartans will open the season February 27 in Las Vegas, Nev., to take on UNLV in a three-game series. The team's spring trip the following week will begin in Jacksonville, Fla., with games against Western Michigan, North Florida, Butler and Mercer, concluding with a three-game set against national-powerhouse Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. After a trip to Manhattan, Kan., to take on Kansas State, MSU will return home for its first home game of the season, March 24 against Bowling Green.
The Big Ten portion of the Spartans' schedule opens April 2 when the Green and White hosts Iowa. The Spartans will take on Ohio State, Indiana and Northwestern at home in 2003 and will travel to Illinois, Purdue and Penn State. State's series with Michigan will be the traditional home-and-home series, with the Spartans hosting the Saturday doubleheader. The only Big Ten opponent that does not make an appearance on the Spartans' schedule is 2003 Big Ten Champion Minnesota.
"We think our schedule in 2004 is very demanding but it will prepare us for our conference season," said Spartan head coach Ted Mahan. "Five of our opponents went to the NCAA Tournament last year. Those will be quality opponents and we look forward to the challenge."
Those five MSU opponents include UNLV, Florida State, Jacksonville, Ohio State and Eastern Michigan.
The Spartans train through the fall, playing a host of scrimmages and staging the team's annual Green vs. Gray World Series Oct. 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17 when the fall season concludes.