Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Announces 2006 Baseball Schedule
8/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Aug. 26, 2005
2006 Baseball Schedule
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana head baseball coach Tracy Smith announced the 2006 baseball schedule, which features three teams that made trips to the NCAA tournament last year, including four-time national champion Miami (Fla.), on Friday afternoon. The schedule features a mix of national and in-state flavor as the Hoosiers face off against five Indiana foes.
"The schedule is something we wanted to address," Smith said. "We think with the addition of Miami (Fla.) and some other changes we made to our mid-week opponents, we have taken steps in the right direction. We will always try and play the best teams in the nation during the non-conference portion of our schedule to better prepare us for Big Ten play and beyond."
Charlotte will be Smith's first opponent as the IU skipper when the Hoosiers and 49ers face off in a three-game series in North Carolina (Feb. 24-26) to open the campaign. The following weekend (March 3-5), the Hoosiers take on the Hurricanes for the first time in the program's history in Coral Gables, Fla. Miami has made 33 NCAA appearances and 21 trips to the College World Series in their illustrious history.
Indiana's final non-conference trip is to Bradenton, Fla., (March 10-19) for its annual spring break trip before returning home for its final non-conference series against Hartford (March 24-26).
The Hoosiers open their Big Ten season with two straight road series against Michigan State (March 31-April 2) and Northwestern (April 7-9). Additionally, IU will travel to Penn State (April 28-30) and will conclude its regular season in Minneapolis against Minnesota (May 19-21).
Intrastate rival Purdue (April 14-16) kicks off Indiana's conference season at Sembower Field followed by a trip from the 2005 Big Ten Tournament champion Ohio State Buckeyes (April 21-23).
Iowa heads to Bloomington May 6-8, and the Hoosiers close out their conference slate at home against Illinois, the defending Big Ten regular-season champion, May 12-14.
IU opens its home season against Xavier on March 8, and its final regular-season game at Sembower Field will take place on May 16 versus Ball State.
In addition to Ohio State and Miami (Fla.), the Hoosiers will host Smith's former club and 2005 NCAA participant Miami (Ohio) on April 25. Hoosier state rivals Indiana State (March 7, April 18), Valparaiso (March 21, May 10), Butler (March 29), Evansville (April 4) and Ball State (May 16) appear on the schedule as well.
Smith enters his first season as Indiana head coach after spending the last nine seasons at Miami (Ohio). Smith amassed a 317-220-1 (.589) career record and a Mid-American Conference regular-season mark of 152-95 (.615). He led the RedHawks to eight straight 30-win seasons, marking only the second time in program history that Miami accomplished that feat, and he finished his career in Oxford third on the all-time wins list.
On the field, the Hoosiers will be led by senior outfielders Jay Brant and Reggie Watson. Brant, a second team All-Mideast Region and All-Big Ten selection in 2005, led the team in batting average (.365), runs (71), hits (81), doubles (16), stolen bases (26) and on-base percentage (.441). The Indianapolis native also ranked in the top 10 in 11 Big Ten offensive categories, including leading the league in runs. Brant started each of the team's 56 ballgames and turned in a season-high 19-game hitting streak to go along with earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors on March 15.
Watson earned his second straight spot as a third team All-Big Ten member last season. The catalyst of the Hoosier offense finished the year with a .340 batting average, 80 hits, 60 runs and 20 stolen bases. Watson led the squad with five triples and 28 walks while closing the campaign second to Brant in runs, hits and steals. The Cincinnati product also was the Big Ten leader with 34 runs scored in conference games and was in the top 10 in seven offensive categories in overall games.
