Feb. 28, 2002

The University of Kentucky baseball team will open its home portion of the 2002 schedule on Friday, March 1 when it plays host to Miami (Ohio) at 3 p.m. in the Holiday Inn North Classic at Applebee’s Park.

The Wildcats (4-5) and RedHawks (0-0) will resume play on Saturday, March 2 with a 2 p.m. game and will complete the series on Sunday, March 3 with a 2 p.m. contest. The Illini of Illinois were scheduled as the third team in the tournament field, but will not make the trip to Lexington due to weather forecasts predicting rain and cold temperatures in the Bluegrass this weekend.

Kentucky is riding the crest of a 3-1 defeat of No. 17 Texas A&M into the Classic. Coach Keith Madison reached the 700-win milestone with UK’s victory over the Aggies in the Continental Express Aggie Baseball Classic in College Station, Texas on Monday, Feb. 25. Sophomore right fielder Caleb Stewart leads all UK batters with a .444 average and joined elite company in a 9-8 loss to Washington State last Saturday, becoming only the sixth Wildcat in the program’s 106-year history to go 5-for-5 from the plate. Junior right-hander Joseph Blanton continued his strikeout parade, fanning a career-high 12 A&M batters in a 4-0 loss to the Aggies on Friday, Feb. 22.

The RedHawks were scheduled to open their season at Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, Feb. 27, but rescheduled the contest to March 5 due to inclement weather. Coach Tracy Smith returns six starters and 12 letterwinners from last season’s 35-25 club, led by All-Mid-American Conference left-handed pitcher Chris Leonard. In 2001, he led all Miami hurlers in seven major categories, including wins (11), games started (15), complete games (8), shutouts (1), innings pitched (112.2), strikeouts (86) and opponent batting average (.231) and was named the Cape Cod Baseball League Pitcher of the Year.

UK has faced Miami in opposing dugouts 34 times since the teams first met in 1904. The Wildcats, owning a 22-12 series edge on the RedHawks, fell to MU in 2001, losing 11-10 in Oxford, Ohio on April 11.

Pitching coach Greg Goff has announced Blanton (1-1, 2.19 ERA, 17 K) as his starter on Friday, while Smith will send Leonard (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0 K) to the mound for the RedHawks.

2002 Holiday Inn North Classic ScheduleFriday, March 1     Miami (Ohio) vs. Kentucky     3 p.m.Saturday, March 2   Miami (Ohio) vs. Kentucky     2 p.m.Sunday, March 3     Miami (Ohio) vs. Kentucky     2 p.m.

– UK –