The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazer Softball Set For Trio Of Midweek Games
4/1/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 1, 2013
Game Notes vs. Lipscomb and Mississippi State
Live Stats Game 1 | Game 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--The UAB softball team is set for three non-conference matchups this week, starting with a doubleheader with Lipscomb on Tuesday at the UAB Softball Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CT.
On Wednesday, the Blazers travel to Ridgeland, Miss., for a rematch with Mississippi State, which is set to start at 6:30 p.m. CT.
UAB is on a seven-game win streak and has won 14 of its last 16 contests. No other team Blazer lore has won 22 games in its first 29.
Follow @UABSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.
Last Time Out
Behind stellar pitching from the entire Blazer pitching staff, UAB executed its third Conference USA series sweep over the weekend as it shut out Southern Miss in three games.
This is only the second time in program history that the Blazers have posted an 11-1 record after completing the first half of the league schedule. In 2011, UAB posted a pair of series sweeps en route to its 11-1 start.
Junior pitcher Leigh Streetman threw her second no-hitter of the year in the 1-0 win. In the game, Streetman matched her career high in strikeouts with 13 and retired the Golden Eagles in order in the second, third and seventh innings. Sophomore Amy Dennis batted in UAB's lone run of the game in the bottom of the fourth frame on a single to right field that scored senior Chandler Orr from second base.
The win also coincided with the 400th of head coach Marla Townsend's career.
On Saturday, senior catcher Anna Kimbrell hit her eighth home run of the year as the Blazers topped Southern Miss, 6-0. Junior designated hitter Kristen McGrath batted in two more runs in the bottom of the fifth frame, while pitcher Lannah Campbell recorded 10 strikeouts and only allowed four hits.
In the series finale, the Blazers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning as senior pitcher Lauren Webster threw four innings and struck out seven batters. Streetman entered the game in the top of the fifth with no outs and a pair of Southern Miss runners on base and got the Blazers out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a pop-out to second base. Streetman retired the Golden Eagle batters in order in the sixth and seventh innings to pick up her second save of the year and 12th of her career.
Scouting Lipscomb
The Bisons swept their Atlantic Sun conference series last weekend, taking three games from Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Meyers, Fla., to start an eight-game road swing.
Lipscomb scored three runs in the top of the seventh en route to a 5-3 win in game one, before taking the doubleheader with a 6-1 win in the second game.
In the finale, Kristen Sturdivant hit home runs in the fourth and seventh innings of the 7-5 win. Sturdivant leads the Bisons in home runs with eight on the year.
Pitcher Heather Parker leads the Lipscomb pitching staff with a 2.67 ERA, and has struck out 80 batters in 97.0 innings. Parker was also named Atlantic Sun pitcher of the week for her performance at FGCU.
UAB leads the all-time series with Lipscomb, 7-4. Last season, the Blazers won both games of the doubleheader in Nashville, Tenn. In game one, UAB used a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning to win, 4-0. Kristen McGrath batted in UAB's lone earned run of the 3-0 game two win in the top of the seventh inning, while pitcher Leigh Streetman retired the Bisons in order in four of seven innings and struck out six batters in the shutout.
Scouting Mississippi State
The Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing skid on Saturday with a 4-3 win in their SEC series finale with Auburn.
Sophomore Briana Bell hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to give Mississippi State the win.
Junior Sam Lenahan leads the Bulldogs with a .372 batting average and a team-high 31 RBI while fellow junior Logan Foulks paces the team with nine home runs on the year.
On March 26, UAB topped Mississippi State, 2-1, at the UAB Softball Field. Sophomore Heather Pearson and senior Whitney Fletcher posted RBI while Lannah Campbell struck out 10 batters in the win.
Down To The Last Out
The Blazers have scored runs with two outs 53 times this season (42.4 percent), and Whitney Fletcher leads the team as she has driven in two-out runs 14 times.
Of the last 50 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 28 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.
Each of the nine runs scored by the Blazers in the three-game series with Southern Miss (March 29-30) occurred with two outs on the board, including a three-RBI home run by catcher Anna Kimbrell.
Scoring First, Scoring Often
On the season, UAB is 8-0 in games where it scores in the first inning. The Blazers are 19-2 on the year when they score first, and are 18-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
No Base Is Safe
Freshman shortstop Caitlin Attfield leads the team in stolen bases with 18 successes in 21 tries, which already puts her in the UAB top-10 all-time list for steals in a season.
With her 18th stolen base occurring during the series with Southern Miss, Attfield now sits in a tie for 10th place in career steals with former Blazer Holly Krzan (2004-08). Lindsay Stanley (2004-07) owns the school record in career-stolen bases with 100.
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 36 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.
Fletcher is also one triple away from tying the single-season record, which was set at five by Martina Landrum in 2010.
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 24 this season for a career total of 83, good for seventh place and two 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 .683, which is second best in the league. She is second in C-USA for home runs with eight.
Whitney Fletcher's slugging percentage has gone up over the last week, and her mark of .586 is eighth best in the conference while her batting average of .351 is ninth best.
With a batting average of .344, freshman Caitlin Attfield has the 11th-best mark in the conference, while her 18 steals are in a tie for third most in the league.
Going Yard
UAB hit six homeruns during the Memphis series and one during the series with Southern Miss, bringing its season total to 25, second-most in the conference.
Anna Kimbrell leads the team with eight home runs while Kristen McGrath has hit seven on the year and sits in a four-way 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 13 times this season by way of being hit by pitch to average 0.45 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 34 times for the second most in conference.
Success in the Circle
The UAB pitching staff has posted the best ERA in the conference with a mark of 1.77. The Blazers have held their opponents to a conference-best .176 batting average, and have allowed the fewest hits at 125.
The pitching staff has also allowed the fewest earned runs in the conference with 50, and have only walked 67 batters--also a top mark in C-USA.
In conference action, UAB's ERA is third best at 1.52. The Blazers' pitchers have held the opposing batting average to .165, while Streetman's own mark of .131 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 12. 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. Her second save of the season came in the series finale with Southern Miss on March 30, when she threw 3.0 innings and allowed no hits in the 2-0 win.
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.
Reaching 400
Head coach Marla Townsend reached 400 career wins on Friday, March 29, as UAB topped Southern Miss in a 1-0 shutout where pitcher Leigh Streetman threw her second no-hitter of the season.
Streetman Named C-USA Pitcher of the Week Pitcher Leigh Streetman was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, the league announced on Monday. This marks her second career honor and the third time a UAB pitcher has been recognized this season.
Streetman threw her second no-hitter of the year on March 29, as UAB topped Southern Miss, 1-0, in the conference series opener. In the game, Streetman matched her career high in strikeouts with 13 and retired the Golden Eagles in order in the second, third and seventh innings.
On the weekend, Streetman led the Blazer pitching staff with 18 strikeouts in 10.0 hitless innings, and is now the only UAB pitcher to have two no-hitters in her career. Earning her second save of the season in Saturday's game, she has 12 in her career, the most of any Blazer in UAB history.
Up Next
Next up, the Blazers travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a rematch with in-state foe Alabama on Wednesday, April 10. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT.
