It seems like the UNT softball team always opens the conference season against Louisiana-Lafayette.
That roughly equates to opening the football season against LSU or Alabama. It’s a series of three games that are really hard to win. And if UNT does lose, it is looking at a long way to climb out of the hole.
That’s the exact scenario UNT is looking at right now after being swept by ULL. UNT took the Ragin’ Cajuns to extra innings in the first two games of the series and lost both. ULL coasted in the third game of the series today.
Keep in mind, ULL Is the 11th-ranked team in the country and is unbeaten on the season. You could make an argument that the Ragin’ Cajuns softball team is the best program in the Sun Belt — in any sport.
UNT looks like it could have a pretty good team this year. The schedule was brutal in the nonconference season, and opening with ULL didn’t help.
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It looks like UNT is on the verge of bringing baseball back, so I put in a call to Al Goldfield. The one-time UNT booster is auctioning off his estate just outside of Denton. Goldfield once offered to put up the funds to being baseball back at UNT.
But no, Goldfield is not back in the donor pool for UNT. He donated $1.5 million toward UNT’s new stadium, but later parted ways with UNT.
I wrote a story about it years ago, but I can’t find it in our online files at the moment.
Al was always great to deal with. He is moving to Colorado Springs and a condo at The Broadmoor, one of the great resorts in Colorado. I grew up a couple of hours north of there.
We wish all the best to Al and his wife.
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As for the NCAA tournament, the Sun Belt is in a play-in game again. Western Kentucky — I still can’t believe UNT couldn’t quite hang on and get in there — will face Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday.