Nov. 20, 2000
The Notre Dame baseball program has released its 56-game schedule for the 2001 season, with the first 18 games featuring visits to Mississippi, Texas, Florida and California while the 24-game home slate is highlighted by BIG EAST Conference series versus Seton Hall and Connecticut and a game versus Purdue at South Bend’s Coveleski Stadium.
Notre Dame will be part of a highly unusual experience by opening the season at the same ballpark where it ended the previous campaign, as the Irish will return to Starkville, Miss., in mid-February for three games at Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field?site of the 2000 NCAA regional in which ND pushed MSU to the limit in the deciding game (won 10-9 by the Bulldogs on a 9th-inning home run).
Notre Dame will open the season at MSU versus the University of New Orleans (Feb. 17, 11:00 a.m.) before facing the Bulldogs on the 17th (3:00 p.m.) and the 18th (noon).
Other highlights to the non-conference schedule include another visit to San Antonio, Texas (Feb. 23-25), a March 1 exhibition vs. the Tampa Bay Devil Rays followed by the Devil Rays College Invitational (all in St. Petersburg, Fla.) and participation in Fresno State’s Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic during Spring Break (March 12-17).
The Irish also will play a pair of games at the University of the Pacific prior to the FSU tournament (vs. UOP and Eastern Michigan) and will face Michigan at Old Kent Park (just outside of Grand Rapids, Mich.) for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, on the night of May 1.
Notre Dame’s 11 scheduled home games vs. non-conference opponents include matchups with Cleveland State, Western Michigan, Toledo, Ball State, Dayton, Chicago State, Detroit, Purdue, Central Michigan, Bowling Green and Oakland. All of those games are slated for Frank Eck Stadium aside from the Purdue game, which will be played on the night of April 15 (6:05 p.m.) at downtown Coveleski Stadium, home of the single-A South Bend Silver Hawks.
The BIG EAST Conference schedule will see the Irish open at Pittsburgh (March 23 DH) and new entry Virginia Tech (March 25 DH), with other conference road dates at growing rival Rutgers (April 7-8), perennial power St. John’s (April 28-29) and up-and-coming Boston College (May 12-13) during the final weekend of the regular season.
Notre Dame’s conference dates at Eck Stadium include games versus Seton Hall (March 31-April 1), Georgetown (April 12 DH), West Virginia (April 14 DH), Villanova (April 21-22) and Connecticut (May 5-6).
The four-team BIG EAST Championship again will be held at Somerset Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J. (May 17-20), the state-of-the-art home of the independent Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
The Alamo Classic in San Antonio will see the Irish face Texas-San Antonio, Texas Pan-American and Sam Houston State (Feb. 23-25) while the Devils Rays College Invitational pits ND versus Florida Atlantic, South Florida and Western Michigan (March 2-4).
Notre Dame’s first three games (out of six) in the FSU Classic will be versus New Mexico, Navy and the host Bulldogs (March 12-14), with the final three opponents (March 15-17) to be determined (the eight-team field also includes Bucknell, Illinois, Miami of Ohio and Portland).
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH — 2001 BASEBALL SCHEDULE
| Day | Date | Time | Opponent | Site | |
| Sat. | Feb. 17 | 11:00am | vs. New Orleans | Starkville, MS | |
| Sat. | Feb. 17 | 3:00pm | at Mississippi State | Starkville, MS | |
| Sun. | Feb. 18 | Noon | at Mississippi State | Starkville, MS | |
| Fri. | Feb. 23 | 7:00pm | ^Texas-San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | |
| Sat. | Feb. 24 | 1:00pm | ^ Texas-Pan American | San Antonio, TX | |
| Sun. | Feb. 25 | 11:00am | ^ Sam Houston State | San Antonio, TX | |
| Thur. | March 1 | 1:00pm | Tampa Bay Devil Rays (exhib.) | St. Petersburg, FL | |
| Fri. | March 2 | 1:00pm | +Florida Atlantic | St. Petersburg, FL | |
| Sat. | March 3 | 5:00pm | +South Florida | St. Petersburg, FL | |
| Sun. | March 4 | Noon | +Western Michigan | St. Petersburg, FL | |
| Sat. | March 10 | 1:00pm | at Univ. of the Pacific | Stockton, CA | |
| Sat. | March 10 | 6:00pm | vs. Eastern Michigan | Stockton, CA | |
| Mon. | March 12 | 10:00am | # New Mexico | Fresno, CA | |
| Tues. | March 13 | 4:00pm | # Navy | Fresno, CA | |
| Wed. | March 14 | 7:00pm | # at Fresno State | Fresno, CA | |
| Thur. | March 15 | TBD | #Opponent TBD | Fresno, CA | |
| Fri. | March 16 | TBD | #Opponent TBD | Fresno, CA | |
| Sat. | March 17 | TBD | #Opponent TBD | Fresno, CA | |
| Wed. | March 21 | 4:05pm | Cleveland State | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Fri. | March 23 | Noon | * at Pittsburgh (2) | Pittsburgh, PA | |
| Sun. | March 25 | Noon | * at Virginia Tech (2) | Blacksburg, VA | |
| Tues. | March 27 | 5:05pm | Western Michigan | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Wed. | March 28 | 5:05pm | Toledo | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | March 31 | 12:05pm | *Seton Hall (2) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sun. | April 1 | 12:05pm | *Seton Hall | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Tues. | April 3 | 5:05pm | Ball State | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Wed. | April 4 | 5:05pm | Dayton | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | April 7 | Noon | * at Rutgers (2) | Piscataway, NJ | |
| Sun. | April 8 | Noon | * at Rutgers | Piscataway, NJ | |
| Tues. | April 10 | 4:05pm | Chicago State | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Wed. | April 11 | 5:05pm | Detroit | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Thur. | April 12 | Noon | *Georgetown (2) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | April 14 | Noon | *West Virginia (2) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Tues. | April 17 | 6:05pm | Purdue | Coveleski Stadium | |
| Thur. | April 19 | 5:05pm | Central Michigan | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | April 21 | 12:05pm | *Villanova (2) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sun. | April 22 | 12:05pm | *Villanova | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Tues. | April 24 | 5:05pm | Bowling Green | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | April 28 | Noon | * at St. John’s (2) | Jamaica, NY | |
| Sun. | April 29 | Noon | * at St. John’s | Jamaica, NY | |
| Tues. | May 1 | 7:30pm | vs. Michigan | Comstock Park, MI | |
| Wed. | May 2 | 4:05pm | Oakland (MI) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | May 5 | 12:05pm | *Connecticut (2) | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sun. | May 6 | 12:05pm | *Connecticut | Frank Eck Stadium | |
| Sat. | May 12 | Noon | * at Boston College (2) | Chestnut Hill, MA | |
| Sun. | May 13 | Noon | * at Boston College | Chestnut Hill, MA | |
| Thur.-Sat. | May 17-20 | TBA | BIG EAST Tournament | Bridgewater, NJ | |
| Fri.-Sun. | May 25-27 | TBA | NCAA Regionals | TBA | |
| Fri.-Sun. | June 1-3 | TBA | NCAA Super Regionals | TBA | |
| Fri.-Sat. | June 8-16 | TBA | College World Series | Omaha, NE |
^Alamo Classic … +Devil Rays College Invitational … #Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic … *BIG EAST game