February 18, 1999

The University of Kentucky softball team will travel to Raleigh, N.C., this weekend to compete in the North Carolina Triangle Classic. UK is currently 2-4 on the year after opening the season last weekend in Arlington, Texas.

UK (2-4, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) will face East Carolina (0-0) in the opening round of pool play on Friday, Feb. 19. This is the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and the Pirates. The Triangle Classic also marks the first game of the year for ECU, who ended the 1998 season with a record of 43-21.

The Wildcats take on Temple in the second game of pool play. The Owls (0-0) will also open their season this weekend after finishing the 1998 season with a 16-28 mark. UK and Temple meet for the first time in this tournament.

UK concludes pool play with games against Maryland and Ohio. The Terrapins are currently 6-6 on the year with a .219 team batting average. They own a two-game winning streak after defeating Utah and Georgia last weekend.

Ohio (0-0) is the only opponent that Kentucky has previously faced. The Wildcats lost to OU last year at the Texas-Arlington tournament by a score of 7-6.

“We are looking forward to playing this weekend,” said UK coach Beth Kirchner. “We made some good progress last weekend. I hope we can start where we left off last week and continue to improve.” The Triangle Classic continues on Sunday, Feb. 21, with a single elimination tournament.