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Bemidji State announces 2005 baseball
schedule
Schedule includes at least 53 games; 10-game Missouri road trip,
24-game NSIC slate |
Dec. 3, 2004
BEMIDJI, Minn. - A season-opening road trip
to Missouri and Kansas and non-conference series against Upper
Iowa and four North Central Conference opponents highlight the
2005 Bemidji State baseball schedule, as announced today by
head coach Chris Brown. BSU’s 2005 docket includes 53
scheduled
games and participation in a tournament hosted by Missouri Southern
which will add between three and five games once opponents are
finalized by the host institution.
Bemidji State kicks off its 54th season of baseball competition
on March 5, 2005 with a four-game series at Emporia State of
the Midwestern Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Emporia
State posted a 36-22 record in 2004 and earned a berth in the
NCAA Central Regional, where it posted a 1-2-0 record. BSU will
play four games at Emporia State in a pair of seven-inning double-headers
on March 5-6.
The Beavers compete in the Central Missouri Classic, hosted
by Central Missouri State on March 11-12. There, the Beavers
will play three nine-inning games against Emporia State (March
11), Grand Valley State (March 12) and the hosts (March 12).
BSU wraps up its Kansas/Missouri trip with a run through the
Missouri Southern Tournament, March 13-17. BSU’s schedule
for the tournament has yet to be finalized, although the Beavers
plan to play between three and five games during the four-day
tourney.
“The first four teams we play are all against teams that
finished last season ranked in the Top 25,” Brown said.
“Grand Valley State and Central Missouri are perennially
in the hunt for the national title and Emporia State is traditionally
amongst the top eight teams in our region.
“I want our kids to experience first hand the level of
play it takes to be regionally and nationally competitive,”
Brown said. “We already know what it takes to be competitive
in our conference. It is also a chance for our guys to play
at premier ballparks and in front of big crowds, which is always
a great experience and something to look forward to.”
The Beavers play closer to home starting March 19, opening a
four-game series with Upper Iowa March 19-20 and tackling Augustana
March 25-26 before heading into Northern Sun Intercollegiate
Conference play in April.
Bemidji State kicks off its 24-game NSIC slate with a four-game
series at Concordia-St. Paul, April 2-3. The Beavers then play
a non-conference twinbill at St. Cloud State of the North Central
Conference on April 5 before making their 2005 home debut, April
6 against Jamestown College - Brown’s alma mater.
The Jamestown series kicks off a 14-game home stand for the
Beavers, which is scheduled to run April 6-19. After the Jamestown
twinbill, BSU will host Winona State for a four-game NSIC series,
April 9-10; bring North Dakota to town for a non-conference
double-header on April 12, host Southwest Minnesota State, April
16-17, and wrap up the home stand with St. Cloud State for two
games on April 19.
BSU then returns to the road for four league games at Minn.-Crookston,
April 23-24, and a twinbill at North Dakota, April 26, before
wrapping up its 2005 home schedule with a six-game homestand.
The Beavers will welcome Minn.-Duluth for a twinbill on April
28, then host Northern State in a four-game NSIC series April
30 and May 1.
BSU ends its regular season on the road, traveling to Minn.-Duluth
to cap off the home-and-home series with two games on May 4,
then head south for a four-game NSIC series at defending league
champion and NCAA Central Regional participant Wayne State (Neb.),
May 7-8.
The NSIC Tournament is scheduled for May 12-15 at the site of
the team with the league’s best regular-season record.
The NSIC Tournament champion is declared the league’s
champion and will advance to the NCAA Central Regional, scheduled
for May 19-22.
Bemidji State is scheduled to open with at least its first 24
games on the road, and in total 36 of the 56 scheduled and anticipated
regular-season games are away from home. BSU’s 20-game
home schedule is comprised of a 14-game home stand from April
6-19, 2005 and a six-game stand from April 28-May 1, 2005. BSU’s
20 home games are scheduled in a 26-day span from April 6-May
1, 2005. In total, BSU’s 2005 schedule comprises 56 games
in a span of 65 days from March 5-May 8, 2005.
“We have tried to base our scheduling on the philosophy
that you don’t get to be the best until you beat the best,”
Brown said. “It does us no good to play teams we should
beat 95 out of 100 games. Early on in the season it is easier
to gauge where we are at by playing good teams that in order
to beat them, you need to bring your “A” game. If
you waltz through the non-conference portion of your schedule,
you get a false sense of success and security and do not set
yourself up the tough conference season.
“With the group of guys we have this year, it will only
benefit us to play against tough competition in that most of
them have significant playing time under their belts and know
what it takes to be successful.”
Bemidji State posted a 14-34 overall record, 11-17 against the
NSIC, in 2004. BSU’s 48 games played tied the school record
set in 1994, and its 28 league games played set another school
standard. The Beavers went 14-15 in their final 29 games after
an 0-19 start.
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