The Eastern Illinois baseball team released their schedule for this year as they near the beginning of the season with a new head coach, and plenty of new faces on the team.

The Panthers are coming off a disappointing year to say the least, as they ended last season with a 13-36 record, as well as firing their head coach Jim Schmitz

Now with a plethora of young talent, and the hiring of Jason Anderson as the new head coach, Eastern looks to turn the page and rebuild the program.

The Panthers will open the season with a three-game series against Southern Mississippi on Feb 19-21 in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Eastern will face one of its toughest tests of the season when they travel to Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 24 to take on the defending College World Series champion Vanderbilt.

The Panther’s home opener will take place on March 1 when they welcome Indiana State to Coaches Stadium.

Eastern will see some more elite competition when they travel to Arkansas on March 4 to begin a three-game series with the Razorbacks.

After that, the team will endure another lengthy road trip, and will not play at home again until March 22.

The Ohio Valley Conference season will begin on March 11, when Eastern travels to Clarksville, Tenn. to open conference play at Austin Peay.

After playing 11 straight games on the road, Eastern will return to Coaches Stadium on March 22 for a four-game home stand against Robert Morris College and Jacksonville State.

One of the biggest challenges of the season will come against the University of Illinois, as the two teams will continue their annual home-and-home series this season.

The first game will take place on April 5 in Champaign, while the second game will be played in Mattoon on April 19.

The Fighting Illini are coming off one of the best seasons in school history, posting a 50-10-1 record, and falling just short of the CWS by losing to Vanderbilt in the NCAA Super Regionals.

It will be the first time that Anderson will face his alma mater for the as a head coach in his career. He was an All-American pitcher during his four years with the Fighting Illini.

The Panthers will close out the season on May 21 at home against SIU Edwardsville.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or mwkawash@eiu.edu.