The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Slated For Matchup Against Jacksonville State
3/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 8, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team will play its final game before conference play Tuesday when the Blazers host Jacksonville State at UAB Softball Field at 6 p.m. CT.
Tuesday's matchup will be the 23rd meeting between the teams with Jacksonville State leading the series, 13-9. UAB and Jacksonville State's last meeting was on Feb. 20, 2007, with the Blazers picking up a 2-1 victory.
"We would like to build off the momentum from last weekend's tournament Tuesday against Jacksonville State," UAB head coach Marla Townsend said. "We have developed a friendly rivarly with them and we want to play well in our last contest before we open conference play this weekend."
UAB (13-5, 0-0 C-USA) went 4-1 at last weekend's USF Under Armour Invitational, defeating Radford, Central Michigan, Western Michigan in extra innings and Boston University. The Blazers' only loss of the tournament was a 3-2 decision to Ball State in the final inning of the game.
Junior leftfielder Caley Walden led the Blazers offensively at the tournament, batting .556 and posting 10 hits, six RBI and two runs. Senior centerfielder Martina Landrum was also an offensive force for UAB with seven hits, including two doubles and a triple, five runs and five RBI. For the season, Landrum is batting .435, the fourth-highest batting average in Conference USA.
The Green and Gold pitching staff had a strong weekend with combined efforts from Alisha Smith, Lauren Webster and Amber Torres. Smith (4-3) made an appearance in all five games, picking up the win against Radford and the save versus Boston University. The Springville, Ala., native threw 22 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched at the tournament and only allowed one walk while recording an ERA of 1.53 for the tournament.
Jacksonville State (6-7, 0-0 OVC) enters Tuesday night's matchup after going 2-3 at last weekend's Georgia Tech Buzz Classic. The Gamecocks picked up wins against Western Kentucy in nine innings and UNC-Greensboro, but fell to Kentucky, Winthrop and North Florida.
Senior outfielder Hillary Downs currently leads the team with a .375 batting average, 15 hits, seven RBI and 22 total bases. In Jacksonville State's victory over Western Kentucky, Downs went 3-for-4 with one run and 3 RBI.
Junior Ashley Eliasson and freshman Hilary Phillips split time in the circle for Jacksonville State. Eliasson (3-6) was the winning pitcher in both of the Gamecocks' victories last weekend. Against UNC-Greensboro, Eliasson struck out seven batters and gave up two runs, one earned.
Fans can follow Tuesday's action online through Gametracker live stats and All-Access streaming video at uabsports.com.
