The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Softball Set For C-USA Showdown With Tulsa
4/11/2013 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 11, 2013
Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--The UAB softball team will resume Conference USA action this weekend, meeting No. 17/21 Tulsa in a three-game series between the top two teams in the league. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. CT, while Sunday will start at Noon CT.
Follow @UABSoftball on Twitter for in-game updates.
Last Time Out
The Blazers dropped their lone midweek game on Wednesday, falling to in-state for Alabama, 11-0, in six innings. Seniors Chandler Orr and Anna Kimbrell and sophomores Heather Pearson and Amy Dennis reached base in the loss.
Scouting Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane are 31-9-1 on the year and match the Blazers with an 11-1 record in C-USA action. Last week, Tulsa went 2-2, first dropping a 3-1 decision to Oklahoma before resuming conference play at East Carolina.
Against the Pirates, Tulsa swept the doubleheader with an 8-0, five-inning win in game one and a 3-1 win in game two. In the finale, the Golden Hurricane fell to East Carolina, 6-4.
Infielder Jill Barrett leads the team with a .400 batting average, while pitcher Lacey Middlebrooks has a batting average of .337 and an ERA of 1.54. Also in the circle for Tulsa, Aimee Creger leads the pitching staff with a 1.00 ERA in 119.1 innings pitched and 176 strikeouts.
Last Meeting
UAB trails Tulsa in the all-time series, 16-9. A season ago, the Blazers hosted the Golden Hurricane and won the televised opener, 2-1. Pitcher Lannah Campbell was credited with the win as she threw five innings and struck out five batters. The Blazers dropped the final two games of the series, 3-0 and 3-0.
RPI Update
In the most recent RPI poll, UAB is ranked at No. 32, its highest ranking in program history. The previous best was No. 33, which the 2012 squad reached on April 16.
The Blazers are ranked second highest in Conference USA, with Tulsa leading the league at No. 21.
On the season, UAB has picked up wins over two teams in the RPI top-30, No. 7 Washington (Feb. 7) and No. 29 Mississippi State (March 26).
Blazers In The National Polls
UAB has received votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25 for the second-consecutive week. In the poll released on April 2, the Blazers picked up one vote, while the poll released on April 9 lists the squad with five votes.
Winning At
Home UAB is currently 10-2 on the year in games played at the UAB Softball Field, and has won eight straight, dating back to the 7-4 win over East Carolina on March 17. The longest home win streak in program history is 10 games, set in 2002.
Scoring First, Scoring Often
On the season, UAB is 9-0 in games where it scores in the first inning. The Blazers are 21-2 on the year when they score first, and are 19-0 when leading after the sixth inning.
Down To The Last Out
The Blazers have scored runs with two outs 54 times this season (39.4 percent), and Whitney Fletcher leads the team as she has driven in two-out runs 14 times.
Of the last 61 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 29 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.
No Base Is Safe
Freshman shortstop Caitlin Attfield leads the team in stolen bases with 18 successes in 22 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 39 times in 32 games, while UAB stole 35 all of last season.
Record Watch
With five triples on the season, Whitney Fletcher is tied for first place in single-season triples with Martina Landrum, who originally set the school record in 2010.
Fletcher's seven career triples places her in a tie for fourth place in the all-time books with Landrum (2008-10) and Cliffanie Engram (2000-03). 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 25 this season for a career total of 84, good for seventh place and one behind the seventh-place mark of 85. Lowman's 126 RBI is UAB's top mark.
Bats on Fire
Anna Kimbrell and Whitney Fletcher lead the team in slugging percentage with marks of .629 and .616, respectively.
Kimbrell's mark is second best in the conference while Fletcher's is third. With eight home runs, Kimbrell has hit the second-most in the league.
With a batting average of .333, freshman Caitlin Attfield has the 14th-best mark in the conference, while her 18 steals are in a tie for fourth most in the league.
Going Yard
UAB has hit 28 home runs on the year, which is second most in the conference behind Marshall's 29.
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 16 times this season by way of being hit by pitch to average 0.48 times per game. The mark is second most in the conference, and as of April 8, Kimbrell is fourth in the nation in HBP per game.
Outfielder Chandler Orr has been hit by pitch eight times this season, fourth most in the league.
As a team, the Blazers have been hit 38 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 2.03. The Blazers have held their opponents to a conference-best .188 batting average, and have allowed the fewest hits at 152.
The pitching staff has also allowed the fewest earned runs in the conference with 65, and have only walked 79 batters--also a top mark in C-USA.
In conference action, UAB's ERA is second lowest at 1.52. The Blazers' pitchers have held the opposing batting average to a league-best .165, while Streetman's own mark of .131 is also top in C-USA.
Campbell's opposing batting average is second best at 1.44, while she also owns the second-lowest ERA at 0.95. Webster's ERA in league action of 1.64 is currently third best.
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 currently tied for ninth nationally in saves, recording 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.
Up Next
UAB is set for another midweek road matchup on Tuesday, April 16 at Troy, with a 5 p.m. CT first pitch. The Blazers will return home on April 20-21 for a C-USA tilt with UTEP. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. CT, while Sunday's finale is set for a Noon CT first pitch.
