INSIDE SWAC BASEBALL
• BATTER UP! 2010 SEASON BEGINS FRIDAY
The college baseball season begins nationwide on Friday and all 10 Conference schools will be in action this weekend, nine of them on Day 1.
• BIG MATCHUPS AMONG OPENING WEEKEND SLATE
Highlighting the opening weekend is defending SWAC Champion Southern participating in the Major League Baseball Urban Invitational Tournament and defending Eastern Division Champion Mississippi Valley State hosting Notre Dame.
For the third straight year, Southern will participate in the Urban Youth Invitational, part of the continued focus of Major League Baseball to revive the sport in African American communities. Southern and MEAC rep Bethune-Cookman will face UCLA, Cal-State Northridge in the three-game weekend series. Southern’s Saturday contest vs. Cal-State Northridge will be shown live on MLB Network.
Mississippi Valley will play Notre Dame in a three-game series beginning Friday on the Valley campus, before playing the final two games in nearby Greenville, MS.
• SWAC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO SHREVEPORT, LA
The 2010 SWAC Baseball Tournament will be played in Shreveport, LA May 26-30. The baseball tournament returns to Louisiana’s “Other Side” for the first time since 2002.
Fair Grounds Field will be the site as the top four teams in each of the SWAC’s Eastern and Western Divisions will compete for the title and the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, Southern held off Alcorn State 12-10 for the SWAC Tournament title.
THIS WEEK’S SWAC SCHEDULE
Friday, February 19
Univ. Ark-PB vs. St. Louis U. in Little Rock, AR, 11 a.m.
Jackson St. at South Alabama(DH), 1 p.m.
Notre Dame at Miss. Valley St. 1 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at Texas A&M CC, 2 p.m.
Grambling St. at Stephen F. Austin, 3 p.m.
Indiana St. vs. Texas Southern in Shreveport, 3 p.m.
Univ. Ark-PB vs. Ark.-Little Rock in Little Rock, AR, 3 p.m.
Alcorn St. at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m.
Southern vs. UCLA in Compton, CA, 8 p.m.
Saturday, February 20
Indiana St. vs. Texas Southern in Shreveport(DH), Noon
Tuskegee at Alabama A&M, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Miss. Valley St. in Greenville, MS, 1 p.m.
Grambling St. at Stephen F. Austin, 2 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at Texas A&M CC, 2 p.m.
Alcorn St. at Louisiana Tech, 3 p.m.
Southern vs. Cal-State Northridge in Compton, CA, 4 p.m. (MLB Network)
St. Peters vs. Univ. Ark-PB in Little Rock, AR, 4 p.m.
Sunday, February 21
St. Louis U. vs. Univ. Ark-PB in Little Rock, AR, 10 a.m.
Tuskegee at Alabama A&M, 1 p.m.
Alabama St. at Miles, 1 p.m.
Alcorn St. at Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m.
Grambling St. at Stephen F. Austin, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Miss. Valley St. in Greenville, MS, 1 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at Texas A&M CC, 1 p.m.
Southern vs. Bethune-Cookman in Compton, CA, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, February 23
Jarvis Christian at Texas Southern (DH), 1 p.m.
Alcorn St. at Northwestern St., 6 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Grambling St., 6 p.m.
Miss. Valley St. at Southeastern La., 6 p.m.
Prairie View A&M at Sam Houston St., 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 24
Tuskegee at Alabama St., 1 p.m.
Miss. Valley St. vs. Texas Southern in Jackson, MS, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at Southern, 6 p.m.
