The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Auburn University
Softball Travels to Auburn to Take on No. 20 Tigers
2/21/2023 3:43:00 PM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM – Blazer Softball (7-4) returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Auburn to take on the No. 20 Auburn Tigers. The Blazers came off back-to-back sweeps over Ball State, Belmont, and Samford at the Blazer Bash last weekend.
"We're excited to hit the road for our first contest against an SEC opponent," said head coach AJ Daugherty. "They have a solid team and know we will be challenged. We are looking forward to another opportunity to grow and learn. We need to play our game and execute our concepts as always."
UAB plays Auburn at 5 PM Wednesday at Jane B. Moore Field.
UAB (7-4, 0-0 C-USA) v. No. 21 Auburn (9-1, 0-0 SEC)
Feb. 22 | 5 PM | Jane B. Moore Field | Auburn, Ala.
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SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Blazers and Tigers history goes back to UAB's inception in 2000, with their first meeting in early February of 2000. Between these two teams, the Blazers have tallied two wins to the Tigers' 14, one of which came in UAB's inaugural season on Feb. 18, 2000.
Jumping forward to 2023, this will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2019. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 20 in the NCAA RPI Softball Polls as of Feb. 22, after having a 9-1 start to their season. In the preseason, the Tigers tallied up several preseason awards amongst their players, including a POTY Watchlist nod for pitcher Maddie Penta.
Penta enters year three of her collegiate softball career, leading the team in wins with six for the 2023 season. In her sophomore campaign, she allowed only 49 earned runs over 195.0 innings with an ERA of 1.76. She would additionally set a program record in double-digit strikeouts.
In addition to Penta, Nelia Peralta leads the team in batting average with .517 this season. In addition to her batting average, her slugging percentage sits at .862, with her best game coming against St. Johns; she tallied a batting average of .667, with two hits off three bats, one of them being a homer.
As a team, the Tigers hit .364, with a total of 258 at-bats. In the circle, the pitching corps averages an ERA of 1.17, while the team averages a fielding percentage of .960, with 14 players averaging a 1.000 fielding percentage.
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