(October 21, 2008)--Baylor baseball head coach Steve Smith announced the program’s 2009 schedule Tuesday. The 52-game slate features 32 home games, including 15 Big 12 Conference games. The Bears also host South Alabama, UAB and UC Irvine for the fourth-annual QTI Classic at Baylor Ballpark. Baylor leaves the state of Texas only three times and does not play any non-conference games outside the Lone Star State.

The 2009 season begins for all Division I teams the weekend of Feb. 20-22. Baylor opens at home, hosting Pacific for a three-game series. Following midweek games against BYU (Feb. 23) and Houston Baptist (Feb. 25), the Bears travel to Houston for the 2009 Houston College Classic, hosted by the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Baylor faces Houston, UCLA and Rice in the ninth-annual event that is one of the nation’s premiere in-season tournaments.

Baylor and Texas again will play a non-conference midweek game this season; the Bears travel to Disch-Falk Field in Austin March 11. The following weekend (March 13-15), Baylor begins Big 12 play with the annual split-series against Texas A&M. The Bears host the Aggies for the Friday night game before the series shifts to College Station for games Saturday and Sunday.

Big 12 teams coming to Waco for three-game series in 2009 are Texas Tech (March 20-22), Kansas State (March 27-29), Missouri (April 10-12) and Oklahoma (April 24-26). Baylor and Texas meet for their split-series May 1-3; the series opens Friday night at Baylor Ballpark and concludes with two games at Austin.

The 2009 Big 12 Conference Championship is scheduled for May 20-24 at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla. NCAA Regionals will be held May 29 through June 1 with Super Regionals the following weekend. The 2009 NCAA College World Series runs June 13-25 at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

The renewal deadline for season tickets is Jan. 9, and new season ticket orders will be accepted starting that day. Single-game tickets – excluding games against Texas and Texas A&M – go on sale Feb. 3.