HONOLULU – The UT Arlington softball team begins its highly-anticipated 2019 season this weekend on the islands with a quintet of games as part of the Hawaii Paradise Classic Thursday through Saturday.
 
The Mavericks, who are coming off a season which saw the program advance in the postseason for the first time, will play two games Thursday, two more Friday and conclude the trip with a single contest on Saturday.
 
It all gets underway at 1 p.m. Central (9 a.m. in Hawaii) Thursday as UTA takes on the #1 team in the nation UCLA. The competition won't get much easier for the Mavs as they will then turn around and face a Fresno State team receiving votes in the national polls at 6 p.m. (2 p.m. local).
 
The Mavs return to the field on Friday with a pair of late afternoon/early evening tilts versus Saint Mary's at 6 p.m. (2 local) and host Hawaii at 8:30 p.m. (4:30 local). The trip will conclude with a matchup against fellow Sun Belt Conference member Georgia State on Saturday at 1 p.m. (9 local).
 
The Hawaii and UTA contest is expected to be video streamed, but a link is not yet currently available. All other games will not have a video stream, but live stats will be available for each contest by visiting UTAMavs.com.
 
UTA was predicted to finish 4th in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll announced last week, with senior outfielder Laura Curry and junior catcher Reagan Wright both being named to the All-Sun Belt Team.
 
Curry and Wright were both selected to the All-SBC First Team and NFCA All-Region Second Team last year as Curry led the Mavs with a .355 batting average, while Wright shattered the program's all-time RBI record, knocking in 53 during the campaign. They are joined by 10 regular returning starters, including a pair of pitchers in Randi Phillips and JoJo Valencia, as UTA boasts plenty of experience.
 
Ending the 2018 campaign in the National Invitational Softball Championship final four, UTA continued to raise the bar on its expectations under head coach Peejay Brun, who is entering her second season at the helm of the program. Brun is making her return to the islands this weekend as she is a 1994 graduate of Hawaii.
 
The Mavericks earned their second-consecutive 30-win season in 2018, a first for the program since 2006 and 2007 and reached the final four of the tough SBC Tournament.
 
Following action this weekend, UTA will head to Baylor's Getterman Classic next Friday-Sunday.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2019 UT Arlington softball season, beginning at just $50. All seating is general admission, and tickets can be secured by logging on to UTATickets.com.