Thirty-three home dates highlight the 2003 59-game regular-season University of Kentucky baseball schedule released Monday by Coach Keith Madison. Madison begins his 25th season on Feb. 13 at No. 32 Stetson in DeLand, Fla., with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Since Madison’s inaugural year in 1979, UK has posted a 15-9 (.625) record in season-openers.
“There’s no question that it’s a challenging schedule, no doubt about it,” Madison said. “We’re playing some very good teams in our pre-conference games. It will test our young team early, but we feel that we’ll be ready for that challenge. Hopefully, our tough preseason tournaments and non-league games will prepare us for Southeastern Conference play.”
UK will participate in the Amtrak Invitational played host by Stetson. The Cats begin their 107th year of collegiate baseball competition against the host Hatters, who are ranked 32nd nationally. UK also will face Maryland and George Washington to round out the weekend. Stetson and GW are two of 11 teams on UK’s docket that earned berths in the NCAA Tournament in 2002.
A trip to historical Charleston, S.C., for the Charleston Crab House Challenge presented by Trademark Properties will feature UK, Boston College, No. 16 Richmond and host The Citadel before the Cats hit the road for their annual trip to Birmingham for three games at UAB’s Jerry D. Young Memorial Field.
Home opening day will welcome East Tennessee State to the Bluegrass on Wednesday, March 5 for a 2 p.m. game at the newly renovated Cliff Hagan Stadium. The Cats will play host to three nationally ranked teams in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll this spring: No. 40 Auburn (March 21-23), No. 31 Kent State (March 25, 26) and No. 33 Georgia (April 25-27). Kentucky will open league play on the road for the fourth consecutive year as the Cats travel to Oxford, Miss., for a three-game series with Ole Miss beginning March 14.
The “Battle in the Bluegrass” series with intrastate rival Louisville will renew on April 22 at U of L’s Cardinal Stadium, while the Wildcats will play host to the Cards on May 7. Last season, both games were cancelled due to inclement weather marking the first year the game was not played since 1981.
All SEC games, with the exception of the Ole Miss series, and each UK-Louisville contest can be heard live on Lexington’s WLXO 96.1 FM with Drew Deener on the call. The broadcasts, as well as in-game live scoring, also can be accessed via the Internet at UKathletics.com.
KENTUCKY BASEBALL NOTEBOOK
Coach Madison was pleased with his players’ performance in the classroom during the fall semester as 19 of 34 Bat Cats posted a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
The Wildcats are proud to have two of their top power hitters on campus and ready to begin practice. Mike Breyman, a junior college All-American at Rend Lake College (Ina, Ill.), and Caleb Stewart, who attended Ashland Community College last fall, will likely bat third or fourth in Madison’s lineup. Stewart, who hit .305 last season, became the only Wildcat in history to record a 7-for-7 day when he accomplished the feat on Feb. 25, 2002 in a doubleheader with Washington State and Texas A&M in the Aggie Baseball Classic in College Station, Texas.
Pitchers and catchers will report for workouts on Wednesday, Jan. 15, the first day of classes for the spring semester at UK. Full team practice will begin on Monday, Jan. 20.
Infielder Spencer Graeter, who led the Cats in batting average (.317), doubles (15), and on-base percentage (.429) last season, has recovered from offseason shoulder surgery in his right throwing arm and should be ready to go in the opener at Stetson on Feb. 13.
Coach Greg Goff has announced that senior right-hander Scott Wade will start against No. 32 Stetson in the opener. Wade is the lone senior on the 2003 pitching staff.
Senior outfielder Gordon Tyler, senior catcher Caleb Brock and RHP Scott Wade have been selected team captains.
Coach Keith Madison, the winningest coach in UK baseball history, begins his 25th season as the Cats’ skipper. He owns an overall record of 713-602-5 (.542), all at Kentucky.
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