The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Softball Hosts Mississippi State In Non-Conference Matchup
4/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team is prepared to play a two-game, home-and-home series against the Mississippi State Bulldogs this week as the Blazers host Mississippi State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at George Ward Park and then travel to Starkville, Miss., for a 6 p.m. meeting on Wednesday.
"These two games against Mississippi State are our last two games versus a non-conference opponent this season and we're looking forward to another good series," said UAB head coach Marla Townsend. "Mississippi State is a high-caliber team and we hope that we can get the ball rolling against them this week."
UAB (16-32) heads into Tuesday's non-conference matchup looking to snap its current 14-game losing streak.
Last week, the Blazers took a break from their tenuous Conference USA schedule, but fell in a trio of hard-fought contests against both Tennessee Tech and cross-town foe Samford. The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles earned a pair of victories against UAB, 3-2 and 7-4, on April 21, while Samford rallied for a 4-0 win versus the Blazers on Thursday.
During its 14-game slide, UAB has suffered four one-run defeats and has dropped a total of nine losses by three runs or less. The Blazers' 3-2 defeat in game one against Tennessee Tech last Wednesday, marked UAB's 23rd game of the 2004 season that was decided by one run. Currently, the Blazers own an 11-12 record in one-run contests.
"Mississippi State has been playing some really good softball lately and we're going to have to be ready to play," Townsend said. "Our team always gets pumped up to play against an SEC (Southeastern Conference) team and that kind of makes our job of motivating them to play a lot easier. We just need to do the things that we know we can do and we need to cut down on our errors."
Mississippi State (33-22) enters Tuesday's matchup versus UAB as one of the hottest teams in the Southeastern Conference.
The Bulldogs have been victorious in 11 of their previous 13 meetings and are currently in the midst of a five-game winning streak. Over the weekend, Mississippi State swept the 17th-ranked Florida Gators in a pair of games, 7-4 and 9-5, after the Bulldogs took all three contests from in-state rival Ole Miss on April 20-21.
So far this season, Mississippi State has defeated five opponents ranked among the nation's top-25. The Bulldogs earned a pair of victories over No. 10 Alabama earlier this season and have also posted wins against No. 6 Georgia, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 17 Florida and the 22nd-ranked Auburn Tigers.
Mississippi State holds a slight 2-1 advantage in its all-time series versus the Blazers. During the 2000 season, the teams faced off against each other for the first time and the Bulldogs registered a 4-1 victory on March 22, in Starkville, Miss.
After the inaugural game of the series in 2000, the teams took a two-year hiatus from the competition until they met in a pair of contests a year ago. In the first game of last season's home-and-home series, Mississippi State picked up a 2-0 win at George Ward Park on Feb. 12, while UAB earned a 3-0 shutout victory at the MSU Softball Field on April 22.
"Last season, we played two games against them and we split," said Townsend. "We went down there and beat them at there place, but earlier they shut us out on our home field, so tomorrow we'll try and get a bit of revenge against them and it should be a really good series."
The UAB softball team will attempt to win its second straight game against Mississippi State on Tuesday as the Blazers host the Bulldogs in a 6 p.m. matchup at George Ward Park Field No. 6.
Admission is free to all UAB home softball games and Tuesday's promotional event will be $.25 hot dogs and free 25th Anniversary Rally Rags for the first 100 fans in attendance.
