Temple University Athletics
Four NCAA Qualifiers Highlight 2009 Temple Baseball Schedule
9.15.08 | Baseball
Sept. 15, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Four NCAA Tournament qualifiers, including three conference champions, highlight the 2009 Temple baseball schedule, fourth-year head coach Rob Valli announced today. The Owls open their 82nd season of varsity competition with a trip to the Florida Gulf Coast Classic where they will take on NCAA Super Regional qualifier Wichita State as part of the three-game tournament. Other NCAA qualifiers from a year ago on the slate include Charlotte, Rider and St. John's.
"Our pre-conference trips to Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia should help us prepare for a very tough A-10 schedule," Valli said. "We are excited about the opportunity to measure ourselves in mid-week games against some of the best competition the Northeast has to offer. Our fans will enjoy coming out to see us take on Penn State, Rutgers, and the Big 5 rivals."
Temple will play host Florida Gulf Coast in the season opener on February 20 before taking on the Shockers, who went 48-17 in winning the Missouri Valley Conference title, and MAC-power Central Michigan in Fort Myers, FL. Following a visit to High Point (February 29-March 2), the Owls will take on George Mason in the mid-week opener on March 3.
One day later, TU will host Maryland Eastern Shore in the earliest home opener in program history. Next up is a trip to the Big South runner-up Liberty in a four-game series (March 6-8) in Lynchburg, VA.
Temple then plays 13 of the next 14 games at home, which includes mid-week visits by long-time rivals Rutgers and Penn State. The Scarlet Knights have not visited Temple since 1995, while the Nittany Lions arrived on campus in 1996.
The Cherry and White will host Duquesne (March 20-22) and La Salle (March 27-29) to begin Atlantic 10 play. Other home weekends in conference action include defending champion Charlotte (April 17-19), Xavier (April 24-26), and Saint Louis (May 8-10). The Owls will also make road trips to Massachusetts (April 3-5), Saint Joseph's (April 10-12), Richmond (May 1-3) and Fordham (May 14-16).
Other mid-week highlights include games against NCAA qualifier St. John's (May 4), MAAC champion Rider (April 8), and NEC runner-up Monmouth (March 24).
In addition to A-10 series with La Salle and Saint Joseph's, Temple will also take on Philadelphia Big 5 rivals Penn (March 18) and Villanova (March 31 and April 21). The March 31 matchup with the Wildcats is also the Liberty Bell Classic opener, with the tournament championship to be played at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Temple is coming off its most successful season since winning the Atlantic 10 in 2001 and made its first appearance in the A-10 Tournament since 2002 last spring.
The Owls set a program record for conference wins (16) and won the most overall games (27) since the 1999 squad captured 28 victories. The nine-win improvement over the 2007 team's 18-win total is the most for TU since the ten-win jump from 1998 (18) and 1999 (28).
