The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Team Officially Releases 2005 Schedule
9/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Sept. 14, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB softball team officially released its 2005 schedule on Tuesday, it was announced by head coach Marla Townsend.
The Blazers, coming off their fifth-straight 20-win season, will open the season in the Bama Bash, hosted by the University of Alabama on Feb. 4. The tournament will run through Feb. 6 and includes Alabama, UAB, Evansville, and Georgia Southern. UAB then heads to the Florida International University Tournament in Miami, Fla., from Feb. 11-13. That event features host Florida International, Mercer, and Loyola Marymount, in addition to the Blazers.
UAB plays host to Alabama A&M on Feb. 15 at George Ward Park for a doubleheader at 4 p.m., in the Blazers' first non-tournament games of the season. The Blazers will make a trip west to the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., Feb. 25-27, to compete against four other teams. The teams joining UAB in the tournament are Stanford, Texas Tech, UC-Davis, Sacramento State, and Auburn.
The Blazers face Georgia Tech on March 2 in Birmingham at 6 p.m. in a single game before participating in the Magic City Tournament on March 5-6, hosted by Samford University. Birmingham-Southern will join UAB and Samford in the city-wide battle. UAB will face Troy, Mississippi State, Georgia State, Alabama A&M, and Georgia Tech all on the road in non-conference action.
UAB's conference road trips are at Louisville, Saint Louis, Charlotte, and Houston. The Blazers face East Carolina, DePaul, South Florida, and Southern Miss at home. The game on Sunday, May 1 versus Southern Miss is Senior Day. The Blazers travel to Houston May 7-8 to complete the regular season. The top six teams in Conference USA make it to the conference tournament, which will be held May 12-14 in Tampa, Fla., and will be hosted by South Florida University.
"We are looking forward to facing the challenges of our 2005 schedule," said Townsend. "Our team opens up close to home at the Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and also travel to the east coast for the FIU tournament in Miami, and then head out to the west coast to play in one of the most competitive tournaments around in the Stanford Invitational,," said Townsend.
"I am excited about showing off our talent from coast to coast this season, and feel our schedule really presents quite a challenge," said Townsend. "We have four seniors that are motivated and already setting the tone for a successful season. We have five freshmen that we expect to challenge the upper classmen for playing time, and if work ethic and team chemistry play a huge role in measuring success, then we should have a great season," said Townsend.
The Blazers return six starters from last season's team, and their second-leading hitter in senior Sara Christophel. The Birmingham native hit .298 last season with four homeruns and 18 RBI. Sophomore Brittany Hodge, freshman Amanda Antonovich, senior Erica Mascarenas, and freshman Jennifer Nelson will make up the pitching staff in 2005.
"This year we have more depth in the pitching staff than we have ever had, and we are excited to have Kim Unkenholz as our new pitching coach," said Townsend. "We hope that our pitching will be strength of the team this season."
Townsend, the 2002 C-USA Coach of the Year, will be joined on the staff by Unkenholz, a 2002 graduate of Troy State, and Mick Hokanson, who is back for his fourth season with the Blazers.
UAB opens the season on Friday, Feb. 4 in the Bama Bash, held in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
