Dec. 12, 2008

DETROIT - Wayne State University head baseball coach Ryan Kelley has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2009 season, which is slated to begin Feb. 20-21 at West Georgia.

The Warriors will play on the road for the first four weeks, including six games against teams within the Midwest region. Bellarmine will host WSU for three games Feb. 27-28 and will serve as the site for a March 1 contest against Southern Indiana.

Wayne State will participate in the Heffington Optical Festival at Drury University from March 6-8, facing the host Panthers as well as Arkansas Tech and Missouri S & T.

Games at Carson-Newman, which qualified for the NCAA South Regional tournament and finished 29th in the national rankings last season, and Toledo, one of two Division I opponents on this year's schedule, will precede Wayne State's home and GLIAC opener March 18 against Northwood.

With the exception of a March 31 contest at Central Michigan, all remaining games will be conference matchups. Eleven (11) of WSU's final 13 games are at home, including a season-closing series May 2-3 against defending GLIAC Tournament champion Grand Valley State.

The structure of the GLIAC schedule has been altered from years past, with the addition of Tiffin and departures of Gannon and Mercyhurst. Teams will play 35 conference games during the regular season, an increase from the 32 played in recent seasons.

GLIAC schools will have five games against each of its conference foes, three at one location and two at the other. Whichever team hosts the weekend set - consisting of two seven-inning games and a nine-inning game - will be on the road for a Wednesday doubleheader.

The 2009 GLIAC Tournament is slated for May 7-10 at a site to be determined.