The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Travels to Tampa for USF Tournament
2/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 22, 2007
USF Tournament Game Notes
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB softball team is headed to Tampa, Fla. for a weekend tournament hosted by the University of South Florida Bulls. The Blazers (5-5) open the tournament with back-to-back games on Friday, facing Eastern Michigan at 10:00 a.m. (ET) and following with Drake University at 12:30 p.m. (ET).
UAB will take on the host Bulls on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Blazers round out the weekend with two more games determined by tournament seed.
Scouting Eastern Michigan: The Eagles return seven starters from last year's squad, including 2006 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Lauren Clark. The junior shortstop ranked in the top three in the league in seven offensive categories including: hits, home runs, batting average, doubles, RBI, total bases and slugging percentage. EMU's softball team posted a 28-28 overall mark in 2006 and finished the MAC regular season 14-8. EMU advanced to the semi-finals of the MAC Tournament. The Eagles were picked to finish third in the West Division of the MAC and open their season at the USF tournament.
Scouting Drake: Drake has owned UAB through three meetings, outscoring the Blazers 17-4. The Bulldogs (3-5) return nine letterwinners from last season and is picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference for the 2007 season. Drake returns two of their biggest weapons at the plate in seniors Lindsay Larry and Jenna Wilkin, who both missed part of last season due to injuries. Larry hit over .300 in 2006, while Wilkin batted .318 and led the team with 50 hits in 2005.
Scouting USF: USF enjoyed one of its most successful seasons to date in 2006, putting together a record of 50-25, 17-3 Big East for a second-place league finish while earning its eighth NCAA Regional bid. The Bulls (5-7) return 13 players, five of whom are starters. Danielle Urbanik is currently leading the team offensively, hitting .367 with two homeruns and eight RBI. Pitcher Cristi Ecks leads the Bulls in the circle, with a 0.00 ERA and a 4-1 record. USF was selected to finish second in the Big East in the conference preseason poll. The Bulls took two out of three from the Blazers in Birmingham in 2005 when USF was a C-USA member.
