Baseball hosts Michigan State, Notre Dame in 2013
The baseball team will have 17 home games during the 2013 season and fans will get to see Notre Dame, Michigan State and others.
Central Michigan will host the Fighting Irish on April 30 before traveling to defending Mid-American Conference Champion and College World Series qualifier Kent State.
"They've got a new coach, and Mick (Aoki) is very receptive, and I think there will be an opportunity to work out something to where they can come up here every so often," head coach Steve Jaksa said.
The Chippewas will host the Spartans on May 14 as part of the teams' annual three-game season-long rivalry. They will continue the Clash at Comerica, which is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on April 17.
"The series grew the first and second year, and, hopefully, it will grow more this year," Jaksa said. "That's what our hopes are that each year it can grow a little bit more. We've already agreed to another three-game series in 2014."
CMU will open the season on Feb. 15 with a three-game series against Louisiana-Lafayette, before traveling to Murray State and Western Kentucky.
Stetson University will host the Bright House Tournament from March 1-3 in DeLand, Fla. There, CMU will face the Hatters, Connecticut and Ohio State
The Chippewas will play in another tournament in Florida, the Snowbird Baseball Classic, from March 8-10 in Port Charlotte. Other teams competing include West Virginia, Chicago State and Georgetown.
"The opportunity to play for a weekend championship is always nice," Jaksa said. "We get to play different teams from different conferences, and it's a change from going with a straight three game set."
CMU has three NCAA Tournament qualifiers on its schedule. Besides the Golden Flashes and MSU, it’ll play two games in Daytona, Fla against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champions Bethune-Cookman University on March 5-6.
"Bethune-Cookman has won the conference and went to regionals last year, so that was good (to get them on the schedule)," Jaksa said.
The team is scheduled to play in Ann Arbor against Michigan on April 3.
The Chippewas will open the gates of Theunissen Stadium March 12 when they host Madonna University.
Northwood, Oakland, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Akron along with the Fighting Irish and Spartans will travel to Mount Pleasant this season.
