Friday to Mark First-Ever Meeting Between Schools
(Mar. 1, 2001) — The University of Kentucky baseball team will play host to Kent State University in the first of a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 2. The game will mark the 2001 home-opener for the Wildcats with first pitch scheduled for 3:05 p.m., at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
UK (3-7) is coming off of a 6-2 win over the University of Illinois last Sunday at the Illini Desert Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcat pitching staff held each tournament opponent to four runs or less, allowing a total of only nine runs in the three games.
UKs offense, which has been mired in a hitting slump early in the season, showed signs of improvement. The Cats racked up 12 hits against the Illini, the teams second-highest total of the year.
The Wildcats posted a 16-11-1 record at home last season, including a 13-1 mark against non-conference opponents. The Cats are 15-7 in home openers under Coach Keith Madison, winning four of their last five.
Fridays game will mark the first-ever meeting between UK and Kent State.
KSU (1-2) enters the series following a road win at Coastal Carolina. The Golden Flashes return five starters and 18 letterwinners from last years 40-18 squad that won the regular-season Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship.
Scheduled to start on Friday for the Cats is sophomore Scott Wade (Kingsport, Tenn./Sullivan South). Wade (0-2) has pitched well for UK this season, posting a 3.18 ERA. In three starts this season, Wade has logged 17 innings, giving up only six earned runs while holding opponents to a .213 batting average. Fellow sophomores Joseph Blanton (Brownsville, Ky./Franklin-Simpson) and Rob Corrado (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) will follow Wade in the pitching rotation. Games on Saturday and Sunday are both scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
