The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Set To Face Marshall In West Virginia
3/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 23, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team will travel to Huntington, W. Va., this weekend to face Marshall in Conference USA action. The Blazers are currently in first-place in the conference standings heading into the weekend with a 5-1 mark. UAB is 18-7 overall and has won five straight games.
The Blazers will face Marshall for just the third time in school history. The series is tied after splitting in two games during the 2001 season. The first two games were played in Athens, Ga., at the Georgia Bulldog Classic. Marshall won the first game 4-3 in eight innings but UAB rebounded to beat the Herd, 4-2, in eight. Friday will also be the first meeting since the realignment of C-USA.
UAB is coming off a C-USA series sweep of East Carolina last weekend. Against ECU, the Blazers managed to win both games Saturday 3-1 and dominated the series finale Sunday, 8-2. Sophomore Amanda Antonovich highlighted the weekend after hitting her first home run of the season in game one to lift UAB past the Pirates. Sophomore Jennifer Nelson and freshman Kayla Harris handled the pitching duties for UAB. Nelson went 2-0 against ECU in games one and three, while Harris led the way in game two.
Marshall enters the series with a 16-14 overall record and was recently swept in a doubleheader against Virginia Tech Wednesday evening. The Thundering Herd is 4-2 in conference action after sweeping UCF last weekend. Marshall is led by Rachel Folden, who is hitting .413 heading into the series against UAB. Folden leads Conference USA with 14 home runs and 39 RBI in 92 at-bats. The Herd has four players hitting over .300. Veronica Ralston and Abigail Harter have handled the majority of the pitching duties. Ralston is 9-7 on the season with a 4.13 ERA, while Harter is 6-7 overall.
The first game of the series is slated for this Friday at 3 p.m. at the Dot Hicks Softball field. Saturday will feature a doubleheader starting at noon. Complete coverage of UAB athletics can be found at www.uabsports.com.
