Derek Gordon's sophomore season begins Feb. 17 in Dallas, Texas.

2012 Baseball Schedule

PARKVILLE, Mo. – Park University baseball coach Cary Lundy has announced the program’s 55-game 2012 schedule, which includes two trips to Texas, a game against nationally ranked LSU-Shreveport, 24 American Midwest Conference games, and 22 games in Parkville at Comfort Field.

“Our schedule this year is both nationally competitive and has a few local rivals that we haven’t played in a couple of years,” Lundy said. “We are really excited about the final stretch of games at home, and our conference will be competitive, as it is every year.”

Park plays its final 12 games at home in the month of April, beginning April 10 when MidAmerica Nazarene University visits Comfort Field for the first time between the Pirates and Pioneers since the 2004 season. William Woods University visits Comfort Field April 13-14 in a battle of teams that will likely be fighting for positioning in the AMC postseason, and April 17, Baker University travels to Parkville for the final nonconference doubleheader of the 2012 season.

Regular-season games come to a close April 20-21 in Parkville with a four-game AMC series against Harris-Stowe State University in the final series before the American Midwest Conference Tournament April 27-May 1 in Springfield, Ill.

The 2012 season begins in Texas, with five games in three days at Dallas Christian College against the Crusaders and two opponents to-be announced Feb. 17-19, and on the way back, the Pirates will stop in Wichita, Kan., for a neutral-field game with McPherson College from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

A local rival, the University of Saint Mary, returns to the Pirates’ schedule after a year absence, with two games scheduled for Feb. 25 in Leavenworth, and the Pirates open the home portion of the 2012 schedule with a four-game series March 3-4 against Dakota State University at Comfort Field.

Conference play begins March 9-10 with four games at Williams Baptist College, in Williams Baptist, Ark., and three days later, Park begins a five-day, nine-game trip south, beginning March 13 with a noon doubleheader at Texas College. The next day, Park travels to a yearly national power for a nine-inning game, taking on LSU-Shreveport in Shreveport, La., and on March 15, the Pirates play two games in Conway, Ark., at Central Baptist College.

Four games in Point Lookout, Mo., at College of the Ozarks, rounds out the trip, and the Pirates return home for two games against Saint Mary on March 20. March 23, Park travels to Missouri Baptist to begin a four-game series with the Spartans, marking the first of eight games against AMC foes that ends when the Pirates return home to take on Benedictine University at Springfield March 30-31.

April begins in Baldwin City, Kan., on April 3 at Baker University, and the Pirates play their final conference road series April 6-7 at Hannibal-LaGrange.

Park finished the 2011 season in the AMC tournament at Missouri Baptist University, wrapping up the year with a 23-15 overall record with a 12-12 finish in the American Midwest Conference regular season.