ROCK HILL, SC – Winthrop head baseball coach Joe Hudak has announced the Eagles will play a 55-game schedule in 2009, including 30 home games and road trips to Pac-10 powerhouses Southern California and Arizona State, and 2008 College World Series runner-up Georgia.

“Our players and coaching staff are very excited about the 2009 schedule. It will be a great challenge for our young, but talented pitching staff,” said Hudak. “Our non-conference schedule, as is our tradition, is very tough. The three trips to Southern Cal, Arizona State who has won back-to-back Pac-10 titles, and Georgia will provide a great opportunity to see how we stack up against some of the best teams in the country. When you add North Carolina and Wake Forest, you can see why our players are so excited.”

The Eagles will open up their schedule with nine straight home games including the 2009 Johnny Gill Memorial Tournament (Feb. 20-22) and Coca-Cola Classic (Feb. 27-Mar. 1), and a midweek game with North Carolina A&T.

The Johnny Gill Memorial Tournament field includes Eastern Michigan and George Washington, while Wagner and Kent State will join Winthrop in the Coca-Cola Classic.

Winthrop will begin Big South Conference play during the first weekend in March as it travels to High Point to take on the Panthers in a three-game series. “I think the Big South Conference will be very interesting this year,” said Hudak. “Obviously, Coastal Carolina has been very good for a long time. However, with the new coaching changes and/or increased commitments to baseball at Liberty, Radford, High Point, VMI, and Charleston Southern over the past couple of years, the conference is certainly getting stronger. The addition of Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian will make the conference better as well. It should make for a great conference race.”

The Eagles will travel to Los Angeles Mar. 13-15 to take on the USC Trojans in a three-game series.

Defending Big South Conference champions Coastal Carolina will make a visit to The Winthrop Ballpark during the third weekend in March for the Eagles first conference home series. Besides facing the Chanticleers in March, the Eagles will also face Big South Conference opponents Radford and non-conference games with Georgia Southern, Wake Forest, North Carolina Central, and Charlotte.

April will have the Eagles traveling to take on two critical non-conference opponents. Winthrop will travel to Athens, GA the weekend of April 7 to take on Georgia, who came within one game of winning the College World Series last season. The Eagles will also travel on April 15 to Chapel Hill, NC to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in their newly renovated Boshamer Stadium. Winthrop will face the Citadel twice, and North Carolina A&T and Charlotte for a second time in non-conference play, Charleston Southern, Big South newcomer Presbyterian, Liberty, and VMI in conference action as well.

The month of May will be crucial for the Eagles as they will conclude their Big South portion of the schedule against UNC Asheville, and the other conference newcomer Gardner-Webb.  Winthrop will also face North Carolina Central for a second time, and will also travel to Tempe, AZ to face the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The 2009 Big South Conference Tournament will be hosted by UNC Asheville and will be played at McCormick Field in Asheville, NC.