VT Baseball

2008 Schedule

 

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Head baseball coach Pete Hughes and his staff recently announced the Hokies' 2008 schedule, and it includes nine NCAA Championship participants and four conference champions from a year ago, in addition to a date with Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and a non-conference game against ACC member Boston College.

Hughes welcomes a plethora of new players to this year's squad, one that will face five of the top 20 teams in Baseball America's final 2007 regular season poll, including College World Series runner-up North Carolina.

Tech begins its season on Feb. 22 against BIG EAST member Pittsburgh at the Coastal Carolina Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Hokies will face off twice with the Panthers, as well as with the host Chanticleers, who were a regional host in last year's NCAA Championship after winning the Big South Conference.

The Hokies will visit Davidson on Feb. 27^th - the alma mater of both Hughes and associate head coach Dave Turgeon - before opening their home slate on Feb. 29^th for the first of three games against Central Connecticut State at English Field.

A visit by America East regular-season champ Binghamton, and a trip to nearby Radford, occur before ACC play opens at Georgia Tech on March 7^th.

The exhibition with the Yankees will take place on March 18^th, and honors the commitment made by the American League wild card winners back on May 23^rd, 2007. Prior to their game against the Boston Red Sox on that day, the Yankees made a $1 million contribution to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund and announced that they would visit the Hokies as a way to aid in the healing process of April 16^th. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. at English Field, and other details will be released when available.

In addition to the series at Georgia Tech, the Hokies will also visit ACC members North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest and Clemson. Tech will play host to Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, Miami and Duke. As the ACC schedule only comprises 30 games, there is one team each year that Tech does not face, and this year, it was scheduled to be Boston College. Hughes, however, spent eight seasons as the Eagles' head coach before coming to Tech a year ago, and worked out a special one-game, non-conference matchup with the Eagles in Blacksburg on March 20^th.

Other non-conference opponents include Presbyterian College, Atlantic 10 runner-up Fordham and Colonial Athletic Association champ VCU, in addition to in-state rivals James Madison, Longwood, Liberty, VMI and William & Mary.

The ACC Championship will be held May 21^st-25^th in Jacksonville, Fla.