PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania announced its 2009 baseball schedule on Monday, and the 09 slate features 24 non-conference games as well as 20 Ivy League games.

“We have a very challenging early schedule,” W. Joseph Blood Head Coach of Baseball John Cole said. “We will make two trips south for the first time. The early-season portion of the schedule will be a great barometer for us heading into the Ivy League season.”

Penn starts off its season with a trip to Davidson and a pair of doubleheaders against the host Wildcats and the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Quakers will play each team once on consecutive days (Feb. 28-March 1).

The Quakers’ annual spring trip again brings the Red and Blue to Florida for a week of games in early March. This year, Penn travels to Winter Park and Rollins College for eight games against Georgetown, Maine and Rollins (March 6-15). Last season, the Quakers defeated Maine, 11-3, on their spring trip.

The Red and Blue return from the Sunshine State for five more road. The Quakers take on Big 5 rival Temple in Ambler, Pa. on March 18 before heading to Maryland for a four-game set with Mount St. Mary’s (March 21-22). In 2008, Penn took three out of four from the Mount in Philadelphia.

The first home game of the season for Penn falls on March 25 and features another city foe, as the Quakers welcome Villanova to Meiklejohn Stadium looking to avenge last season’s loss to the Wildcats.

After the date with the ‘Cats, the Red and Blue begin Ivy League play with a weekend of home doubleheaders against Dartmouth (March 28) and Harvard (March 29). Both twinbills are scheduled to start at noon.

A busy March concludes with first-round action in the Liberty Bell Classic as Penn hosts Delaware at 3 p.m. Penn’s second-round game in the Liberty Bell is scheduled to be at Lafayette on April 7 The final will take place on April 21 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Penn continues its nonconference run of Big 5 games with Saint Joseph’s at home on April 1 and a road contest at La Salle on April 15 at 3 p.m.

In between the local rivalry games, Penn will face stiff Ivy League competition in the form of a road trip to Brown (April 4) and Yale (April 5). The next weekend (April 11-12) will see the Red and Blue head to Ithaca for four games with Cornell, as the Quakers start Gehrig Division action inside the Ancient Eight.

April 18-19 will see Penn return home for a four-game set with Princeton at Meiklejohn Stadium.

The last nonconference games of the season take place on April 22 when the Quakers head to Lehigh for a pair of games starting at 1 p.m.

The regular season concludes with a home-and-home series against Columbia (April 25-26). Penn heads to the Big Apple on the 25^th for a doubleheader before hosting a pair of games in Philadelphia the next day.

The Ivy League Championship Series, pitting the winners of the Gehrig and Rolfe divisions, will be held May 2-3, with the winner of the best-of-three series advancing to the NCAA Regionals.