The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Announce 2007 Softball Schedule
12/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Dec. 7, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB softball team has once again loaded its schedule with tough, quality opponents for the 2007 season. Highlighting the three-month schedule is a quartet of tournaments to kick off the year before jumping into the always-challenging Conference USA slate, announced Blazers' head coach Marla Townsend.
"I think we have a good tournament schedule to begin the season," said Townsend. "We are also bringing in some good schools, including a lot of strong conference teams."
"We are looking forward to playing a lot of different teams this season that we have not played in the past. We excited about meeting up with those teams and seeing some new faces."
UAB will open its 2007 campaign at the Georgia State First Pitch Classic on February 10, 2007. The Blazers will face a string of highly-touted opponents in Atlanta, including Virginia Tech, Tennessee Tech and host-school Georgia State.
The Blazers' next stop is at Chattanooga before traveling south to compete in the Auburn Tiger Invitational on February 16-18. Auburn's tournament will feature UAB, Tulsa, Notre Dame, Tennessee Tech, Virginia Tech and the host Tigers.
UAB's home opener will take place on February 20 when the Blazers take a break from tournament play and host in-state foe Jacksonville State in a 4 p.m. double-header at George Ward Park.
The Blazers will jump right back into tournament competition when they travel to Tampa, Fla. to compete in the USF "The Game" Tournament, which will put UAB up against schools such as Eastern Michigan, Drake and South Florida.
UAB's final tournament of the year will be its own Magic City Classic on March 2-4. Along with the Blazers, it will also include local schools Samford and Birmingham-Southern. In addition, Ohio State will join the Birmingham-area schools in the tournament.
"It's always fun to host the Magic City Classic," said Townsend. "We are hoping to defend our title this season against some good teams in Samford, Birmingham-Southern and Ohio State."
Conference USA play will open on March 10 for the Blazers, when they travel to Tulsa, Okla. for a two-day, three-game series with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Along with two months worth of C-USA matchups, UAB has also scheduled some non-conference games in the mix, including South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Troy, Mississippi State, North Florida and Kennesaw State.
"The girls are hungry this year," said Townsend. "They are ready to get back in there, get started and play competitive against every school."
