Oct. 20, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The schedule for the inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball Challenge, hosted by the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, has been released, API Management and Marketing announced Monday. Twenty-seven games will be held February 20-22, 2009, at venues in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Dunedin, Fla., highlighted by Friday and Saturday evening doubleheaders at Knology Park and Bright House Field.

All 10 of the Big Ten's baseball-playing institutions will compete in the inaugural event, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue. Eight BIG EAST representatives will participate, including South Florida, Connecticut, Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. Each day there will be eight games that feature a BIG EAST team taking on a club from the Big Ten along with one non-conference contest in which two Big Ten schools face off.

Illinois will face Iowa at Jack Russell Stadium at 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday, Feb. 20, will square off with Notre Dame at Progress Energy Park on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m., and will wrap up Challenge play against West Virginia on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m at the Naimoli Complex.

Other venues to be utilized include the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex, the Tampa Bay Rays' former spring training facility in St. Petersburg; Progress Energy Park, the Rays' former spring training stadium in St. Petersburg; and Jack Russell Stadium, the former spring home of the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater. There will be games in four of the five venues on Friday and Saturday, including marquee evening matchups at Knology Friday, February 20, at 4 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET and in the same time slots at Bright House Saturday, February 21. Jack Russell Stadium and Progress Energy Park each will host three games per day Friday and Saturday and two Sunday.

The 4 p.m. ET game at Knology, the state-of-the-art spring training stadium of the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies, Friday, February 20, will feature Penn State and St. John's, with the 7:30 p.m. ET contest pitting Ohio State against Notre Dame. Michigan and Cincinnati will tangle at Bright House, the Toronto Blue Jays' spring training stadium, Saturday, February 21, at 4 p.m. ET, followed by Purdue vs. South Florida at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Purdue-South Florida contest will be televised locally by Bright House Sports Network.

The inaugural BIG EAST/Big Ten Baseball challenge will conclude Sunday, February 22, with four games at various venues all starting at 1 p.m. ET. The day is highlighted by a matchup featuring defending Big Ten champion Michigan and reigning BIG EAST regular-season champ St. John's at Progress Energy Park.

The complete tournament schedule can be found below. Ticket information and other pertinent event details will be released in the near future. For more information please call 410-472-3500 or send an email to scott@api-mgmt.com.

BIG EAST/BIG TEN CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
February 20-22, 2009

Friday, February 20
10 a.m.    Indiana vs. West Virginia    Progress Energy Park
    Michigan State vs. Connecticut    Jack Russell Stadium

1 p.m.    Minnesota vs. Seton Hall    Progress Energy Park
    Michigan vs. South Florida    Jack Russell Stadium
    Purdue vs. Cincinnati    Naimoli Complex

4 p.m.    Penn State vs. St. John's    Knology Park
    Northwestern vs. Georgetown    Progress Energy Park
    Illinois vs. Iowa    Jack Russell Stadium

7:30 p.m.    Ohio State vs. Notre Dame    Knology Park

Saturday, February 21
10 a.m.    Michigan State vs. Seton Hall    Progress Energy Park
    Minnesota vs. West Virginia    Jack Russell Stadium

1 p.m.    Illinois vs. Notre Dame    Progress Energy Park
    Iowa vs. St. John's    Jack Russell Stadium
    Penn State vs. Northwestern    Naimoli Complex

4 p.m.    Michigan vs. Cincinnati    Bright House Field
    Ohio State vs. Connecticut    Progress Energy Park
    Indiana vs. Georgetown    Jack Russell Stadium

7:30 p.m.    Purdue vs. South Florida*    Bright House Field

* Game televised by Bright House Sports Network

Sunday, February 22
10 a.m.    Ohio State vs. Cincinnati    Progress Energy Park
    Penn State vs. Seton Hall    Jack Russell Stadium
    Northwestern vs. Connecticut    Naimoli Complex
    Minnesota vs. Michigan State    Naimoli Complex
    Iowa vs. Georgetown    Naimoli Complex

1 p.m.    Michigan vs. St. John's    Progress Energy Park
    Purdue vs. Notre Dame    Jack Russell Stadium
    Indiana vs. South Florida    Naimoli Complex
    Illinois vs. West Virginia    Naimoli Complex