Buffalo Baseball Announces 2013 Schedule

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BUFFALO, NY - After losing just two starters from a team that reached the Mid-American Conference tournament for the first time in program history and making the semifinals, the Buffalo Bulls baseball team is motivated to take the next step. The team announced its 2013 schedule Friday afternoon, with non-conference games against top national programs as well as another year fighting it out in a deep conference.

"I believe that this schedule is challenging and will better prepare us for the conference season," head coach Ron Torgalski said. "We took a promising step forward last season, and I look forward to the team taking that next step in 2013."

The season kicks off on February 15, when the team begins a stretch of 19 straight road games to begin the year with a three game series at North Carolina A&T. The following weekend, the team will have four games – two games at Maryland Eastern Shore and two games at Virginia Military Institute that will cap off the month of February. It will be UB's first meeting with the Keydets and the first meeting with A&T since the 2008 season.

With March coming around, the team will start off with a three-game series against Longwood starting on the first of the month. The two teams last met in 2011, with the Lancers sweeping a four-game series. The next weekend, of the 8^th, the team will play a Friday doubleheader and a single game Saturday against the Memphis Tigers, the first meeting ever between the two schools.

That will then lead into one of the team's toughest stretch of the season, a six-games-in-six-days stretch that will also bring some tough competition. The team will play at Belmont on Tuesday, against a Bruins team that won 39 games in 2012 to make the NCAA regionals and also went 23-8 at home. The following day, the team will play against the Vanderbilt Commodores, one of the traditional powers of college baseball who have been a mainstay in the NCAA tournament for the past decade under head coach Tim Corbin.

After the early week games, the team will play two doubleheaders, against Oakland and Dayton Friday, and the same opponents again the following day. It will again be the first meeting ever for UB, against either the Flyers or the Grizzlies. The games will not only wrap up the major non-conference season portion of the team's schedule, but it will also end the team's road slog.

The Mid-American Conference season begins on March 22 with a three-game weekend series against West Division opponent Central Michigan. The Chippewas head to Buffalo for three games after a wild series in Mt. Pleasant last season that saw the two teams combine for 57 runs in just three games.

Following a cross-town mid-week game against Canisius, the team will continue MAC West play against Western Michigan on the road. The month of April will open with a Tuesday doubleheader at St. Bonaventure on the 2nd, before welcoming in Toledo for three games at UB.

Three games at Eastern Michigan starting on April 12 concludes the West division crossover, bring on Kent State for the East division opener on April 19. The following Tuesday, the team will also host its first Big 4 rival when Niagara enters into a doubleheader.

After finishing the season with eight straight games at home to fuel a berth in the MAC tournament, the team will now need to earn some crucial late-season wins to copy last season's success. In May, the team will host Ohio and St. Bonaventure, but travel to Miami (OH) and Bowling Green to end the conference season.