The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Set To Host Southern Miss
3/28/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2013
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--The UAB softball team remains at home this weekend, hosting a three-game series against Southern Miss at the UAB Softball Field. First pitch for Friday's game is set for 6 p.m. CT, while Saturday's doubleheader is set for a 1 p.m. CT start.
Follow @UABSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.
Last Time Out
The Blazers took a quick break from conference action on Tuesday, and behind junior pitcher Lannah Campbell's 10 strikeouts, UAB topped Mississippi State, 2-1, at home.
Campbell retired the Bulldogs in order in each of the first four innings, while sophomore second baseman Heather Pearson and senior center fielder Whitney Fletcher each added an RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Senior third baseman Kate Armstrong recorded a notable at-bat in the bottom of the fourth frame, as she fouled off 15 pitches of a 19-pitch appearance before being walked.
Mississippi State managed to get a runner on second base with no outs in the top of the seventh, but a pair of groundouts and a flyout to Fletcher ended the game in the Blazers' favor.
Scouting Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles earned their first conference win last week, splitting a two-game series with UTEP, while the finale was cancelled due to inclement weather.
After dropping the first game, 10-4, Southern Miss' Mackenzie Sher hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to give the squad a 4-3 victory. Sher leads the team in home runs on the season with seven, while Caroline Walker paces the squad with a batting average of .330.
In the all-time series, Southern Miss holds a 23-19 advantage, while UAB has won the last seven meetings, including last season's sweep in Hattiesburg, Miss., on April 28-29. Kristen McGrath recorded three RBI as UAB won the opener, 5-1, while the Blazers hit a pair of home runs in the 2-1 win of game two. To complete the sweep, Kate Armstrong hit a home run and Whitney Fletcher recorded an RBI as UAB won, 4-2.
Quest For 400
With 399 wins, head coach Marla Townsend is only one away from her career milestone of 400 victories during her 14-year tenure at UAB.
Townsend recorded win No. 300 during the 2010 season when the Blazers defeated C-USA foe Memphis, 5-2, at home on May 1, 2010.
Down To The Last Out
The Blazers have scored runs with two outs 44 times this season, and Whitney Fletcher leads the team as she has driven in two-out runs 14 times.
Of the last 41 runs scored by UAB--dating back to the doubleheader at Alabama State on March 19--the Blazers have crossed home plate with two outs on the board 19 times, and 10 of those situations were batted in by Fletcher.
Fletcher recorded seven two-out scores during UAB's sweep of Memphis on March 23, including three in the Blazers' comeback during the top of the seventh inning of game two, where UAB won, 6-4.
Scoring First, Scoring Often
On the season, UAB is 8-0 in games where it scores in the first inning. The Blazers are 16-2 on the year when they score first, and are 15-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
No Base Is Safe Freshman shortstop Caitlin Attfield leads the team in stolen bases with 17 successes in 18 tries, which already puts her in the UAB top-10 all-time list for steals in a season.
With one more stolen base, Attfield will enter the record books in a tie for 10th place for steals in a career with former Blazer Holly Krzan (2004-08). Lindsay Stanley (2004-07) owns the school record in career-stolen bases with 100.
Attfield has seven more tries than the 2012 season leader in steals, Whitney Fletcher, who had 10 in 14 attempts.
Martina Landrum set the record for stolen bases in one season in 2009, when she had 38.
As a team, the Blazers have successfully stolen base 33 times, while UAB stole 35 all of last season
Record Watch
With four triples on the season and six in her career, Whitney Fletcher is tied for sixth place in the UAB record books with Caley Walden (2008-11). Catherine Crawford(2009-12) owns the record with 12.
Designated hitter Kristen McGrath is nearing Mandy Lowman's (2009-12) school record for career home runs. Lowman hit 32 in four years, while McGrath has racked up seven so far this season for a total of 26, and currently sits in a tie for second all-time with Andrea Rogers (2006-09).
McGrath has also entered the UAB top-10 all-time list in career RBI with 22 this season for a career total of 81, good for seventh place and four behind the sixth-place mark of 85. Lowman's 126 RBI is UAB's top mark.
Bats on Fire
Catcher Anna Kimbrell continues to lead the team in slugging percentage with a mark of .667, which is second best in the league. She also sits in a tie for second in C-USA for home runs with seven.
Whitney Fletcher's slugging percentage has gone up over the last week, and her mark of .600 is sixth best in the conference while her batting average of .371 is fifth best.
With a batting average of .349, freshman Caitlin Attfield has the 10th-best mark in the conference, while her 17 steals are fifth most in the league.
Going Yard
UAB hit six homeruns during the Memphis series, bringing its season total to a conference-best 24.
Kristen McGrath and Anna Kimbrell have hit seven apiece, both in a tie for second in the conference, and McGrath sits in a tie for first in the league in home runs hit during conference play with three.
We Love Free Bases
Catcher Anna Kimbrell has reached base 11 times this season by way of being hit by pitch to average 0.42 times per game. The mark is second most in the conference, and as of March 24, Kimbrell is tied for 16th in the nation in HBP per game.
Outfielder Chandler Orr has been hit by pitch six times this season, fourth most in the league.
As a team, the Blazers have been hit 30 times for the second most in conference.
Success in the Circle
The UAB pitching staff has posted the second-best ERA in the conference with a mark of 1.98. The Blazers have held their opponents to a conference-best .181 batting average, and have allowed the fewest hits at 116.
The pitching staff has also allowed the fewest earned runs in the conference with 50, and have only walked 59 batters--also a top mark in C-USA.
In conference action, UAB's ERA is third best at 2.03. The Blazers' pitchers have held the opposing batting average to .176, while Campbell's own mark of .137 is also top in C-USA.
Getting The Save
Pitcher Lannah Campbell recorded her fourth save of the year during the series against East Carolina, as she entered the second game in the seventh inning and got the Blazers out of a bases loaded jam to end the game in UAB's favor.
She is one of only seven pitchers in NCAA to have been credited with four saves on the year for second-most in the nation. Campbell got her first in the 4-3 win over Washington on Feb. 7, as she came into the game with one out in the fifth inning.
Campbell's second and third saves came during the series at UCF, as she closed out the seventh inning of the 5-1 game one win, then made an appearance in the fifth inning of the 8-2 win in game three.
UAB's pitching staff now holds the top-three spots in career saves, starting with Leigh Streetman's 11. Streetman picked up her first save this year when she pitched 2.1 innings in UAB's 2-0 win over UCF on March 9. Webster, who picked up her sixth career save as UAB came back to beat Memphis, 7-5, on March 23, sits alone in second place, while Campbell's five career saves puts her in a tie for third place.
Blazers Sweep C-USA Weekly Awards
For their performances at Memphis, senior center fielder Whitney Fletcher and senior pitcher Lauren Webster were named Conference USA Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
It marks the second weekly honor this season for Webster and the first for Fletcher. Fletcher was also named hitter of the week twice a season ago.
On the weekend, UAB swept Memphis with a pair of come-from-behind wins, followed by a run-rule victory on Sunday, and Fletcher led the team with a batting average of .700. The Decatur, Ala. native, recorded six runs on seven hits, a double, triple, two home runs, seven RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.600.
Webster (7-2) threw a complete game and was credited with a save during UAB's weekend at Memphis. Webster threw the entire five-inning finale and recorded nine strikeouts, including three consecutive in the third inning of the 11-1 win.
Streetman Throws Perfect Game
Pitcher Leigh Streetman threw a perfect game as UAB topped Alabama State, 4-0, on March 19 in the second game of its doubleheader against the Hornets. Streetman recorded a season high 10 strikeouts in the game, including the top of Alabama State's lineup in the bottom of the seventh inning. In fact, Streetman struck out five of the final six batters of the game.
The perfect game was UAB's first since 2006, when the Blazers defeated Alabama A&M, 8-0. Pitcher Jennifer Nelson recorded 14 strikeouts during the six-inning game.
Up Next
UAB will wrap up a six-game home stand next week, hosting Lipscomb for two games on Tuesday, April 2. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CT, with the second game to follow. On Wednesday, the Blazers will travel to Ridgeland, Miss., for a rematch with Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. CT.
