GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The new artificial infield at Kraft Field will get plenty of use in 2011 as University of North Dakota head baseball coach Jeff Dodson announced his team's schedule for the upcoming season on Wednesday.

The Fighting Sioux are scheduled to play 19 home games on their new turf and will also host the Great West Championship at Kraft Field on May 24-28. UND's home opener is slated for April 1 against long-time rival North Dakota State.

		Date	Opponent	Location	Time
		2/25	at Wichita State	Wichita, Kan.	3 p.m.
		2/26	at Wichita State	Wichita, Kan.	2 p.m.
		2/27	at Wichita State	Wichita, Kan.	1 p.m.
		3/3	at Missouri State	Springfield, Mo.	3 p.m.
		3/4	at Missouri State	Springfield, Mo.	2 p.m.
		3/5	at Missouri State	Springfield, Mo.	1 p.m.
		3/8	at Kansas	Lawrence, Kan.	3 p.m.
		3/9	vs. Saint Mary (Kan.)	Lawrence, Kan.	3 p.m.
		3/11	at Southeast Missouri State	Cape Girardeau, Mo.	1 p.m.
		3/12	at Southeast Missouri State	Cape Girardeau, Mo.	12 p.m.
		3/13	at Southeast Missouri State	Cape Girardeau, Mo.	12 p.m.
		3/15	vs. Northern Illinois	St. Louis, Mo.	12 p.m.
		3/16	at Saint Louis	St. Louis, Mo.	4 p.m.
		3/18	at Nebraska	Lincoln, Neb.	1:35 p.m.
		3/19	at Nebraska (DH)	Lincoln, Neb.	2:05 p.m.
		3/20	at Nebraska	Lincoln, Neb.	1:05 p.m.
		3/26	at Creighton (DH)	Omaha, Neb.	1 p.m.
		3/27	at Creighton (DH)	Omaha, Neb.	1 p.m.
		4/1	North Dakota State	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		4/2	at North Dakota State (DH)	Fargo, N.D.	1 p.m.
		4/3	North Dakota State	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		4/8	at Houston Baptist*	Houston, Texas	12 p.m.
		4/9	at Houston Baptist* (DH)	Houston, Texas	12 p.m.
		4/10	at Houston Baptist*	Houston, Texas	12 p.m.
		4/13	at South Dakota State	Brookings, S.D.	2 p.m.
		4/15	Utah Valley*	Grand Forks, N.D.	3 p.m.
		4/16	Utah Valley* (DH)	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		4/17	Utah Valley*	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		4/22	at New York Tech*	Old Westbury, N.Y.	3 p.m.
		4/23	at New York Tech* (DH)	Old Westbury, N.Y.	12 p.m.
		4/24	at New York Tech*	Old Westbury, N.Y.	1 p.m.
		4/29	Chicago State*	Grand Forks, N.D.	3 p.m.
		4/30	Chicago State* (DH)	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5/1	Chicago State*	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5/6	at Northern Colorado*	Greeley, Colo.	12 p.m.
		5/7	at Northern Colorado* (DH)	Greeley, Colo.	11 a.m.
		5/8	at Northern Colorado*	Greeley, Colo.	12 p.m.
		5/13	NJIT*	Grand Forks, N.D.	3 p.m.
		5/14	NJIT* (DH)	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5/15	NJIT*	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5/17	South Dakota State	Grand Forks, N.D.	3 p.m.
		5/19	Texas-Pan American*	Grand Forks, N.D.	3 p.m.
		5/20	Texas-Pan American* (DH)	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5/21	Texas-Pan American*	Grand Forks, N.D.	1 p.m.
		5-24-28	Great West Championship	Grand Forks, N.D.	TBA
			* Great West game		All times CT
			Home games in bold

“It is going to be an exciting year culminating with the Great West Tournament here in Grand Forks,” Dodson said. “We also have quite a few more regular season games this year, which will provide a great chance for our fans to check out the new field and support our team.

“Plus, we left a few slots open on our schedule, so we have the flexibility to pick up even more home games late in the season.”

In all, the Sioux will have a program-record 53 regular season games on the docket and the long journey begins at one of college baseball's perennial powers for the second straight season - Wichita State. UND will play a three-game series against the Shockers (Feb. 25-27), who are ranked No. 23 in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll. 

UND also has non-conference series at Missouri State (March 3-5), at Southeast Missouri State (March 11-13), at Nebraska (March 18-20) and at Creighton (March 26-27).

The Sioux will also sprinkle in a few single games against non-conference foes, playing at Kansas (March 8), vs. Saint Mary (March 9), vs. Northern Illinois (March 15) and at Saint Louis (March 16).

The final tune-up before Great West play commences will be a four-game, home-and-home series with NDSU. The two teams renewed their rivalry last season at the Metrodome where UND took three-of-four games from the Bison.

This season, the teams will open the month of April with single games at Kraft Field on April 1 and 3 and a doubleheader in Fargo on April 2.

 

The conference opening series for the Sioux will be on the road at Houston Baptist (April 8-10). The matchup with the Huskies is the first of seven GWC series UND will play culminating with the league championship on its home field.

The Sioux have league home series scheduled against Utah Valley (April 15-17), who won the inaugural regular season and tournament titles in 2010 and Chicago State (April 29-May 1). UND then closes out the regular season with back-to-back league series at Kraft Field against NJIT (May 13-15) and Texas-Pan American (May 19-21).

Besides their trip to Houston, the Sioux also have GWC road series at New York Tech (April 22-24) and at Northern Colorado (May 6-8).

UND will play South Dakota State in a two-game home-and-home series during the conference portion of its schedule. The Sioux will play at SDSU on April 13 and the Jackrabbits will return to Grand Forks for a May 17 tilt.