Horizon League Announces Schedule for 2006 Baseball Championship

May 22, 2006

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Defending champion and regular-season titlist University of Illinois at Chicago holds the top seed for the 2006 Horizon League Baseball Championship, which begins Wednesday (May 24). Six teams converge upon Dayton, Ohio, for the opportunity to represent the League in the NCAA Championship.

Wright State University serves as the tournament host for the fourth time, as Nischwitz Stadium provides the backdrop for this year's League summit. The championship was also decided in Dayton in 1997, 2000, and 2003.

Play begins Wednesday morning as fourth seed Youngstown State University (26-27 overall, 16-13 in the League) battles #5 seed Butler University (18-34, 9-21) at 11 a.m. (Eastern time), followed by the 3 p.m. matchup between the host school, third-seeded Wright State (28-25, 17-13), and sixth-seeded Cleveland State University (9-40, 6-22).

Thursday's (May 25) slate begins with an 11 a.m. elimination contest between the losers of Wednesday's games before #2 seed University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (31-23, 18-12) meets the higher-seeded of the previous day's winners at 3 p.m. Top seed UIC begins defense of its 2005 League title as the Flames (34-18, 22-7) take on the other winner from Wednesday's action.

UIC won its fifth consecutive regular-season crown in 2006 but the Flames have fallen in the tournament twice in the last four summits. UWM captured the tournament title in 2002 and Youngstown State claimed the pennant in 2004.

A pair of survival games begin the day on Friday (May 26), while the nightcap sees one team earn entry into the championship game. That team would have two chances to earn the League's automatic berth in the NCAA Championship.

The other side of that bracket would be decided in Saturday's (May 27) opener, with the victor of that 11 a.m. match-up moving on to the title showdown. A second championship game, if necessary, would take place at noon on Sunday (May 28).

UIC represented the Horizon League in the 2005 national summit after defeating UW-Milwaukee 9-6 in the second championship game. The Panthers had lost earlier in the tournament but posted a 9-4 victory in the first championship meeting to force that decisive 11th game.

This year's Flames feature one of the top sluggers in Division I in Bart Babineaux. The senior outfielder has already eclipsed the school single-season record with a League-high 18 home runs and has matched UIC's one-year standard with his 64 RBI. On the mound, junior Zach Peterson's 8-3 record includes a League-best 2.10 earned run average. UIC leads the League in hitting (.325 team average), pitching (3.60 ERA) and defense.

UW-Milwaukee enters the tournament on the heels of a three-game sweep of Butler, earning the Panthers the other first-round bye. UWM's roster includes the nation's leading hitter in senior outfielder Mike Goetz (.498), while senior pitcher Rick Cavaiani anchors the pitching staff with an 8-1 record.

To follow all the action of this year's League Championship, log on to www.horizonleague.org and click on the Baseball Championship icon on the left side. The championship page includes links to CSTV's Gametracker for games in progress, along with complete summaries and box scores as contests are completed.

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Note: The tournament schedule and final regular-season standings follow on the next page.