KENT, Ohio – Three trips to the Carolinas, a trip to Georgia and an always tough Mid-American Conference slate headline the 2009 baseball schedule for the Golden Flashes.

“I think we have a very challenging schedule once again,” said 5th year head coach Scott Stricklin. “Our goal every single year is to go out and play a challenging schedule where our players are going to be tested on the road early against very good opponents at good venues.

“Our goal when we enter the conference season is that we have been able to play quality teams in tough atmospheres to hopefully get our players ready for the conference,” added Stricklin.

Trips to warmer climates kick off the 2009 season, as Kent State travels to UNC-Greensboro (Feb. 20-22), Winthrop (Feb. 26-March 1), UNC-Wilmington (March 6-8) and Kennesaw State (March 13-15).

During the season, Kent State will play one home and away game each against Marshall, Duquesne, Youngstown State, Pittsburgh and Penn State. The Golden Flashes will also play home games against Canisius, Niagara and Malone.

“Having opponents like Pittsburgh, Duquesne, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, those are our traditional home and home series and it is great to have them on our schedule. We expect to have a very challenging road ahead of us,” said Stricklin.

The Golden Flashes kick off their conference slate at home with defending Mid-American Conference Tournament champions Eastern Michigan March 20-22. The other series against MAC West foes include hosting Northern Illinois and traveling to Ball State and Toledo.

The MAC East games begins with Bowling Green coming to town for a three game set. After the Falcons, the Golden Flashes with play nine of 10 games on the road, including conference series at Ohio and at Buffalo.

“Our conference will be improved this year. Having Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green at home helps us. I think there will be a lot of parity in our conference,” said Stricklin.

Rivals Kent State and Akron will square off Tues., May 5 in their annual charity game. The season series concludes May 8-10 when the Golden Flashes host the Zips for a three-game set.

Miami University comes to Kent May 14-16 for the final regular season games of the 2009 season.

For the second straight season, eight teams qualify for the MAC Tournament, which will be in Chillicothe, Ohio.