University of Tennessee Athletics
VOLS ANNOUNCE 2006 BASEBALL SCHEDULE
October 13, 2005 | Baseball
Oct. 13, 2005
2006 Tennessee Baseball Schedule in PDF Format
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2006 Tennessee Baseball Schedule
Head baseball coach Rod Delmonico announced Tennessee's 2006 schedule Thursday, as the Volunteers hopes to navigate their way back to Omaha, Neb., for the NCAA College World Series. A season-opening series at Florida Atlantic, a tournament appearance in Myrtle Beach, S.C., an exhibition game against the Tennessee Smokies and the return of SEC Western Division rival Alabama highlight the upcoming season's schedule.
Of Tennessee's 23 regular-season opponents, 11 earned spots in last season's NCAA regionals, three advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and one (Florida) joined the Vols in the College World Series. In addition, three of UT's 2006 opponents finished last season ranked in the top 10 in at least one of the four major college baseball polls.
Following the lid-lifting trip to Florida Atlantic Feb. 3-5, the Vols host Eastern Michigan Feb. 10-12 to open their 2006 home slate. Morehead State then makes the trip to Knoxville for a three-game series Feb. 17-19.
Three 2005 NCAA regional qualifiers then await Tennessee in Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the 2006 Baseball at the Beach tournament. The Vols face Georgia Tech, host school Coastal Carolina and VCU Feb. 24-26, respectively. All three games will take place at Coastal Federal Field, home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves).
Tennessee enjoys an eight-game homestand March 3-15, during which it will face Oakland and Akron in separate three-game series before finishing up with two midweek contests versus Siena.
The grueling Southeastern Conference portion of the 2006 schedule begins in Starkville, Miss., as the Vols play Mississippi State March 17-19.
Tennessee's remaining four SEC road trips include weekend stops at Arkansas (March 31-April 2), Georgia (April 21-23), Ole Miss (April 28-30) and South Carolina (May 12-14).
The Vols open their home SEC schedule March 24-26 against Kentucky and will also play host to LSU (April 7-9), Florida (April 14-16) and Vanderbilt (May 5-7).
The final series of the regular season marks the return of longtime rival Alabama to the UT schedule after a two-year absence (Auburn now drops off the Vols' schedule). Tennessee squares off with the Crimson Tide May 18-20 in Knoxville. The rare Thursday-Saturday series allows an extra day of rest before the league's top-eight teams head to Birmingham, Ala., for the 2006 SEC Baseball Tournament May 24-28.
The NCAA regionals take place June 2-5, and NCAA Super Regionals will be held the following weekend (June 9-12). The NCAA College World Series runs June 16-26 in Omaha, Neb.
Additional regular-season, non-conference midweek contests include home-and-home series with Tennessee Tech and ETSU, two home games against UNC Asheville and a home game with Belmont.
A final highlight of the 2006 schedule is an exhibition matchup versus the Tennessee Smokies (Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) at Smokies Park April 4. The Vols have not played the minor-league team since the 2003 season, when the Smokies posted an 8-6 victory. The Smokies lead the all-time series 2-0.
