Jan. 30, 2002

Coach Keith Madison will be meeting with the media to discuss the opening of the 2002 University of Kentucky baseball season on Tuesday, Feb. 12 before men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith’s pregame press conference for the UK-Vanderbilt game on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The press conference will be held in Memorial Coliseum on the second floor of CATS at 1:30 p.m.

Madison, now in his 24th year at the helm of the Wildcats, is closing in on 700 career victories, needing only three to reach the impressive milestone. In his 23 seasons, Madison has amassed 251 Southeastern Conference victories, sent 80 Cats to the professional level, and currently ranks second in overall wins among active SEC coaches. Madison currently coaches two right-handed pitchers, juniors Joseph Blanton and Rob Corrado, who were listed No. 2 and No. 6 respectively in Baseball America‘s Top-10 SEC prospects for the 2002 Major League Baseball draft.

The 106th season of UK baseball will get underway on Friday, Feb. 15 in Birmingham, Ala. as the Cats battle Samford at 4 p.m. EST in the Birmingham Challenge Tournament. Kentucky last played Samford on Feb. 26, 1994, suffering a 5-2 setback at the hands of the Bulldogs at SU’s Joe Lee Griffin Field. Samford leads the overall series 2-0.