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Oct. 24, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois head coach Dan Hartleb announced his squad's 2008 schedule Wednesday, with it including early trips to 2007 NCAA regional qualifier Baylor and Texas Tech, a pair of midweek games against Southern Illinois and 14 of the final 18 regular-season games at home. This season marks the first year of an NCAA mandate that all schools start playing baseball on the same date, this year on Feb. 22.

"The early schedule will be challenging," Hartleb said. "But it's a schedule that if we play well and win games, we can help our RPI.

"There are a lot of unknowns early in the season because of the common start date. Those southern teams won't have so many games under their belts when we play them, but they will still have had more opportunities to practice outdoors, which could cause some disparity."

The Illini open 2008 at the Al Ogletree Invitational, hosted by Texas-Pan American on Feb. 22-24. While the field for that tournament is not yet set, it is likely to include the host Broncs, 2007 NCAA regional qualifier Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, Texas State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Following that weekend, the Illini visit Baylor for a tournament hosted by the Bears, who were a No. 3 seed in the Houston Regional last season. Also joining Illinois and Baylor in Waco will be Illinois-Chicago and Stephen F. Austin.

On March 7-9, Illinois will play a four-game series at Texas Tech, getting an early taste of the format of Big Ten weekends. The next week will be the Fighting Illini's annual Spring Trip, which will once again take them to the IMG Baseball Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The trip will be highlighted by Big 12 foe Kansas, and Mid-American Conference opponents Miami (OH) and Akron.

"As we move through the early non-conference part of our schedule, we'll have an opportunity to use our entire pitching staff and examine our depth on the mound, as well as the progress we've made in a year," Hartleb said. "It also will help us determine where we are offensively, because we have a number of new faces who will be in the lineup."

Following the midweek opener at Indiana State on March 25, the Illini begin the Big Ten season with a trip to Michigan State. Illinois then takes its first trip to Rent One Ballpark in Marion, Ill., for a game against Southern Illinois on April 1 and will play the first game at the newly renovated Illinois Field when it hosts Saint Louis on April 2. The series at Michigan State starts a string in which Illinois plays three of the first four conference series on the road, visiting Indiana on April 4-6, playing Michigan at home on April 11-13 and traveling to Minnesota on April 18-20.

"Obviously, playing on the road is never easy, but it gives the team an opportunity to become closer because they're living together and fighting through the different forms of adversity you face away from home," Hartleb said. "But playing so many of our later games at home should give us an advantage with the great crowds that usually come to Illinois Field in late April and early May."

After the trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Illinois returns home for a midweek game against Illinois State on April 22, starting the second half of the season in which the Illini play 14 of the final 18 games at home. After ISU, Penn State visits Illinois Field April 25-27, Southern Illinois makes a return trip on April 29 and Northwestern comes to Champaign on May 2-4. Penn State's visit will be the first time it has appeared on Illinois' regular-season schedule since 2004.

Once the week of final exams is finished, the Orange and Blue travel to Ohio State for a four-game series May 9-11, then return home to wrap up the regular season with a series against Purdue. That final series will be played Thursday through Saturday, May 15-17, to better accommodate travel to the Big Ten Tournament, which begins the following Wednesday.