The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Softball Takes On Troy For Final Midweek Contest
4/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team will return home Tuesday to host in-state foe Troy for its final non-conference game of the season at UAB Softball Field. The matchup, which was originally scheduled as a doubleheader, has been changed to a single contest starting at 12 p.m. CT.
Tuesday is UAB Employee Appreciation Day at UAB Softball Field. All UAB employees will receive free admission and lunch by showing their employee ID.
Tuesday's game will mark the second meeting between the two teams this season. Although Troy leads the all-time series, 11-6, UAB took their last meeting, 4-1, to open the Magic City Classic hosted by Samford back in February.
UAB (31-17, 11-7 C-USA) went 1-2 over the weekend at league foe UTEP, falling, 5-3, and, 9-8, in extra innings Saturday, before claiming a 4-2 win Sunday to spoil the Miners' perfect 15-0 record at home. Also with the win, the Blazers became just the fourth team in school history to reach the 31-win mark.
Shortstop Kayla Orr was named C-USA's Hitter of the Week Monday for her performance last week. Orr batted .526 and recorded a 1.211 slugging percentage over six games for UAB. The sophomore slugger went 10-19 with eight runs, four home runs and eight RBI.
Junior pitcher Alisha Smith (12-10) leads the Blazer pitching staff with a 2.00 ERA. Smith has notched 153 strikeouts and allowed just 44 earned runs in 153.2 innings pitched. Freshman Lauren Webster (14-5) is close behind with a 2.07 ERA, and has thrown two shutouts and posted four saves in 27 appearances.
Troy (24-25, 10-11 Sun Belt) enters Tuesday's contest after going 1-2 against Louisiana-Lafayette last weekend. The Trojans fell, 6-3, Saturday and were blanked, 5-0, in Sunday's opener, before edging the Ragin' Cajuns in the final game, 5-4.
Shortstop Kala Moore leads the Trojan offense with a .360 batting average and 33 runs, while right fielder Hayden Gann has recorded a team-high 25 RBI.
In the circle for Troy, Ashlyn Williams and Sally Ward have largely contributed to a 2.98 team ERA. Williams (17-18) has thrown five shutouts, retired 339 batters and allowed just 85 earned runs. Gann (3-5) has given up 27 earned runs, issued 32 walks and fanned 36 batters in 18 appearances.
Blazer fans can follow Tuesday's action through Gametracker and All-Access streaming video on uabsports.com.
