Alabama Announces 2005 Baseball Schedule
10/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama baseball team will open the 2005 season with the school's first-ever trip to the state of Hawai'i for a four-game series with the University of Hawai'i in Honolulu.
The four-game, season-opening series, which will be played Feb. 10-13, will mark the Crimson Tide's first baseball game off the US mainland since a Far East Tour to Japan in 1957.
"We are looking forward to opening the season at Hawai'i," Alabama head coach Jim Wells said. "I think Hawai'i will be a good early test for this team."
In addition to its four games with Hawai'i, Alabama will also play non-conference series against UNC Asheville (Feb. 18-20), Duquesne (Feb. 25-27), McNeese State (Mar. 4-6) and Miami, Ohio (Mar. 11-13).
The Crimson Tide will also play non-conference games with Birmingham Southern (March 9), Butler (March 16), Jacksonville State (March 23), Memphis (April 12), Mississippi Valley State (April 21), Samford (March 2), at Southern Miss (March 29) and a home-and-home series with UAB (Feb. 23 and May 4).
The 2005 schedule includes 27 games against teams that played in the NCAA Regionals last season, including Arkansas, Birmingham Southern, Florida, Georgia, Jacksonville State, LSU, Miss. State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Southern Miss and Vanderbilt. Four of those teams -- Arkansas, Georgia, LSU and South Carolina -- played in the 2004 College World Series.
"The SEC is best baseball conference in the nation," Wells said. "The league gets tougher and tougher every year. Three years ago, eight teams made it to the NCAA Regionals and that had never happened before. Two years ago, Florida gets in with a solid RPI even though they did not make the SEC Tournament. Then last year, we get a record nine teams in the NCAAs. I think that record speaks for itself."
Alabama will open its SEC schedule at home against Kentucky (Mar. 18-20). The Crimson Tide will also play SEC home series with LSU (April 1-3), South Carolina (April 23-25), Georgia (April 30-May 1) and Arkansas (May 13-15).
The Crimson Tide's five SEC road series are against Vanderbilt (Mar. 25-27), Ole Miss (April 8-10), Florida (April 15-17), Miss. State (May 6-8) and Auburn (May 20-22). For the second year in a row, Alabama does not play Tennessee.
