University of North Texas
Utah Tech
Softball Opens Season in Arizona
2/8/2024 3:45:00 PM | Softball
TUCSON, Ariz. – RV UNT softball begins its 2024 campaign at the Candrea Classic on Friday at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Mean Green open against Utah Tech at 2 p.m. CT before it meets hosts RV Arizona at 7 p.m. CT.
Along with two games against both Utah Tech and Arizona on Friday and Saturday, North Texas will play Lipscomb and Northern Colorado on Sunday. Both contests against the Wildcats will be available on Arizona Live Stream-2 through Pac-12.com while all non-Arizona games will be streamed on FloSoftball.
The Mean Green clash with the Wildcats on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and Saturday at 5 p.m. CT after both teams received votes in the preseason ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. The teams will meet for the third time in program history, the first since UNT suffered a 9-1 loss on Feb. 12, 2016, against the then-No. 13 Arizona squad. North Texas trails the all-time series 0-2.
Friday morning's season opener versus Utah Tech marks the first meeting between the two programs. The Trailblazers won the 2023 WAC regular season title after it posted a 19-5 conference record and finished inside the top 100 in RPI. North Texas and Utah Tech will meet again on Saturday at noon CT.
UNT closes the weekend with a Sunday doubleheader, first against Lipscomb at 9:30 a.m. CT. Historically, the Mean Green are 0-2 versus the Bisons with the last meeting in 2005.
The second half of the Sunday twin bill features a matchup against Northern Colorado at 11:30 a.m. CT. Head coach Rodney DeLong earned his first career UNT win versus the Bears on Feb. 8, 2019, with a 9-0 victory in six innings.
UNT enters the five-team tournament with a roster featuring 14 upperclassmen, six of which were all-conference selections from last season.
