September 27, 2004

Zebulon, NC - The Southern League today released its 2005 regular season schedule with all 10 clubs opening on Thursday, April 7th. 

The Carolina Mudcats will begin the campaign with a seven-game homestand against its new division rival Huntsville, followed by three games against Birmingham.

With the relocation of the Greenville Braves to Pearl, Mississippi, Atlanta's new Double-A affiliate, known as the Mississippi Braves, the league reorganized divisions and alignments.

Starting this April, the league will adopt a Northern/Southern Division, five-team format. The Mudcats will play in the North, along with Tennessee, Chattanooga, West Tenn and Huntsville. The Southern Division will consist of Mississippi, Jacksonville, Mobile, Birmingham and Montgomery. 

The Mudcats will feature 22 Friday and Saturday night games during the season, plus hosting their traditional Fourth of July contest on that Monday night against the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The league will play an unbalanced schedule, which includes four Mudcats road trips outside the division to play in Jacksonville, while traveling to interdivisional foes West Tenn and Huntsville only twice. Carolina will play 88 of its 140 games against its own division, including a whopping 37 against the Lookouts. Of the Mudcats 52 non-divisional games, 20 will be against the Jacksonville Suns alone.

The breakdown of Carolina games is listed below:

Northern Division:
Huntsville 6 away, 8 home 
Chattanooga 19 away, 18 home 
Tennessee 11 away, 9 home 
West Tenn 6 away, 11 home 

Southern Division:
Birmingham 3 away, 7 home 
Mobile 3 away, 4 home 
Mississippi 4 away, 4 home 
Montgomery 4 away, 3 home 
Jacksonville 14 away, 6 home

Ticket prices, game times and sale dates will be announced at a later time.

For additional information, contact the Mudcats at (919) 269-2287.