Baseball releases Spring 2012 schedule

The Butler baseball team has released its 2012 schedule, looking to win 30 or more games for the eighth consecutive season.

It will be one of the more challenging schedules Butler baseball has faced, starting with a two-game series at Odessa (Texas) on Feb. 3-4. The Grizzlies will also play home-and-home series with traditional powers Northern Oklahoma-Enid and Cowley County, travel for a pair of weekend series at Seminole State (Okla.) and Longview (Mo.) and face another national power at home in Iowa Western.

In years past, Butler has sprinkled in a couple of games with junior varsity squads from four-year schools, but this year, there is only one against the JV from NCAA Division II power Emporia State.

That's all in addition to the tough schedule of the Jayhawk West Conference. The Grizzlies host series with Seward County, Cloud County, Dodge City and end the year with four home games against Hutchinson.

"It's tough," admits head coach BJ McVay, who is getting ready to start his second season as head coach and ninth overall with the Butler program, "a lot tougher that what it's been probably since I've been here."