The goal is to get into the seasons end NCAA Tournament without having to win the conference championship. With that thought in mind, Elon University baseball coach Mike Kennedy released the challenging 2013 slate yesterday that features 22 games against 2012 tournament teams, as well as match-ups with Wake Forest University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the University of Louisville.
Mark your calendars for Friday, Feb 15 as Elon welcomes Marist College to Latham Park for the season opener as part of the Country Inn and Suites Elon Invitational. The Phoenix will also match up against Boston College and Virginia Commonwealth during the opening weekend as part of the tournament.
Elon will hit the road for four straight following the home opening tournament. The swing will include their second and final tournament of the regular season in the Caravelle Resort’s Baseball at the Beach tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The three game set will be held at TicketReturn.com Field, home of the Class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
The first game of the tournament is against the University of Kentucky Wildcats, who lost in the final game of the NCAA Tournament Regional round to the tournament’s surprise of the year, Kent State University.
The Phoenix will return home following the tournament to play eight of their next 10, including matchups against North Carolina State University (in Raleigh) and Furman University. During the span, the Phoenix welcome College of Charleston to Latham Park for the final time as Southern Conference rivals, as the Cougars will become a member of the Colonial Athletic Conference in the fall of 2013.
With conference play in full swing, Elon will hit the road for seven of their next eight games. However, the Phoenix will not have to leave the state of North Carolina, as they will play three at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, one at home against Princeton University, then four games on the road against Western Carolina University and High Point University.
On March 27, Elon will welcome the East Carolina University Pirates for the first game of the annual home-and-home series before welcoming Davidson College and High Point to Latham Field.
Following a three game trip to take on The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., Elon will welcome national powerhouse North Carolina to Latham Park on April 9. North Carolina has been a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament of late, making it to Omaha, Neb. for the College World Series five of the last seven years.
After a game with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the Phoenix will head to Louisville, Ky. to take on the University of Louisville Cardinals, then will play one more against the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill before coming home to take on the Wofford College Terriers.
Five of the next eight games will be on the road, including a home-and-home series on April 30 and May 1 against Wake Forest University. The last three games of the swing are the final road games of the regular season in Boone, N.C. against Appalachian State University.
Elon welcomes North Carolina A&T to campus on May 7 before the Samford University Bulldogs come to close out the conference schedule from May 10-12. The season concludes on May 14 against N.C. State.
Eight days later, the Southern Conference Tournament gets underway in Greenville, S.C. on Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive minor league organization. A Southern Conference tournament champion will be crowned on May 26.