ARLINGTON – After coming off a 3-1 opening weekend, the UT Arlington softball program is set to compete in the Tracy Beard College Classic beginning Friday, Feb. 17 against No. 16 Kentucky in Celina, Texas.

Following an 11 a.m. matchup against the ranked Wildcats, the Mavericks will take on the North Texas Mean Green at 4 p.m.
 
UTA will open Saturday's play with an 11 a.m. start against WAC foe Sam Houston followed by McNeese at 4 p.m.

To conclude tournament action, the Mavs will face the South Dakota Coyotes Sunday with a start time of 10 a.m.

The event is held in honor of Tracy Beard who was a Dallas Firefighter, long time fast pitch coach and friend to many. The tournament is put on by Texas Glory Fastpitch Softball after Beard lost his life to ALS. The Tracy Beard Scholarship was awarded in 2015 and is awarded to applicants who are college bound and played softball in high school. Each of
these winners demonstrates leadership, perseverance and the ability to overcome barriers to achieve their goals.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
TOURNAMENT: Tracy Beard College Classic
OPPONENTS: #16 Kentucky, UNT, Sam Houston, McNeese, South Dakota
WHEN: February 17-19
WHERE: Celina, Texas | Old Celina Park
Game 1 vs #16 Kentucky: Friday, 11 AM
Game 2 vs UNT: Friday, 4 PM
Game 3 vs Sam Houston: Saturday, 11 AM
Game 4 vs McNeese: Saturday, 4 PM
Game 5 vs South Dakota: Sunday, 10 AM
 
UTA NOTES (3-1)

• UTA hit the ground running concluding opening weekend with a 3-1 record. First-year head coach Kara Dill recorded her first win as a head coach last Friday (2/10) against Texas Tech, 4-3, at Allan Saxe Field.
• Overall, infielder Kimber Cortemelia paced UTA's offense going 6-13 (.462) at the plate with four RBI. The fifth year started in all four games for the Mavs and continues to prove to be a key asset in UTA's lineup.
• Nicole Hill recorded her first career start in right field in Friday's game against the Red Raiders where Dill kept the lefty in the lineup for UTA's final two games of the weekend. The sophomore went on to tab her first hit(s) in a Maverick uniform after she compiled a weekend average of .375 finishing 3-8 at the plate.
• Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jessica Adams turned in her first complete game shutout of the season last Sunday where she went on to earn her second win of the year after defeating Tulsa, 3-0.
• Adams sits on an ERA of 0.47 through 15 innings with a 2-0 record which puts her with the fourth-best ERA in all of the WAC.
• Although Dill faced Kentucky every year in SEC play while serving as the pitching coach at Texas A&M, this marks the first time Dill will play against her former coach, Rachel Lawson, but this time, as the head of her very own program.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | #16 KENTUCKY WILDCATS (2-0-1)

• Kentucky is off to a 2-0-1 start to the 2023 season at the NFCA Lead-Off Classic in Clearwater, Florida after picking up wins against St. John's (14-4) and Louisville (8-0), both in five innings. The Wildcats' 4-4 tie came from their matchup with No. 13 Texas after Kentucky was leading 7-4 with two outs, but the drop-dead rule ended the game reverting back to the score of 4-4.
• Senior Rylea Smith has started in every game so far this season as she holds a .400 batting average.
• The Wildcats' offense has a total of six home runs on the year with junior Erin Coffel holding two of the six to her name. Coffel sits on an average of .333 and has scored five times.
• Overall, the power-five program has compiled 26 runs across just three games.
• In the circle, junior Stephanie Schoonover has the most innings under her belt among the pitching staff with 12. Schoonover has logged two complete games with an ERA of 2.33.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (4-0)

• The Mean Green sits on an impressive 4-0 record after defeating the University of Illinois Chicago, Saint Francis, UConn and Georgia Tech.
• Junior Mikayla Smith started in all four games last weekend with a .455 average at the plate. The infielder has put up six RBI, three home runs and a 1.273 slugging percentage so far this season.
• Senior left-handed pitcher Ashley Peters has spent the most time in the circle among UNT's staff with 12 innings. Peters has not allowed a single run so far as she hold a 2-0 record. The lefty recorded her first shutout of 2023 over UNT's 8-0 victory over Saint Francis.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | SAM HOUSTON BEARKATS (2-3)

• Sam Houston is coming off a 2-3 opening weekend after hosting its Bearkat Classic that featured UTSA, Virginia, Delaware, South Dakota State and Northwestern State.
• The Bearkats' two wins came from UTSA (11-10) and Northwestern State (2-1).
• UTA and Sam Houston sit on a long-standing record of 47-55 with the Kats leading. The Mavericks have defeated the Bearkats in the last three meetings between the two programs with the latest matchup coming from a 1-0 win in March 30, 2022 at Allan Saxe Field.
• This will mark the first time UTA will face Sam Houston since the Mavericks re-joined the Western Athletic Conference in July of 2022. The Mavs are scheduled to host the Bearkats for a three-game conference series May 5-6.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | MCNEESE COWGIRLS (4-1)

• McNeese kicked off its 2023 season at home with the Cowgirl Classic where the Cowgirls took just one loss from Central Arkansas aiding to a 4-1 record.
• Junior Emily Phillips leads the team with a .444 batting average and hold one of two Cowgirl home runs this season. Across five games, Phillips sits on a .889 slugging percentage – best of the squad.
• Infielder Crislyne Moreno is the one responsible for the other home run as she shares a team-high four RBI. Moreno has started in all five games this year for McNeese.
• On the mound, Whitney Tate has tossed 13.1 innings and has the most strikeouts among the staff with 12. With a 2-0 record, Tate holds a 2.10 ERA.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (2-0)

• South Dakota was originally set to open the season in Conway, South Carolina in Coastal Carolina's Kickin' Chicken Classic Feb. 10-12 but the Coyotes could not travel due to weather.
• Instead, USD competed in the Doc Halverson UNI-Dome Classic is Cedar Falls (, Iowa and took home two wins over Drake (12-9) and UNI (9-6).
• Junior infielder Gabby Moser went a perfect 7-7 at the plate with a whopping 10 RBI. Moser totaled seven RBI in USD's first game of the season against Drake.
• As a pitching staff, the Coyotes accumulated a 5.00 ERA as Kynlee Marquez has the lowest ERA of 2.10 over 3.1 innings of work.

ON DECK
UTA will pick right back up next weekend as the Mavericks will head to San Marcos to compete in the Texas State Classic beginning Friday, Feb. 23 that will feature UTSA, Kansas, Colorado State and the host, Texas State.
 
FOLLOW THE MAVS
For the latest news on UTA Softball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on Twitter @UTAMavsSB, on Instagram @UTAMavsSB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/UTAMavsSB.