March 21, 2005

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The UAB softball team will take a break from Conference USA play on Tuesday when the Blazers meet the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a game set for 6 p.m. at the MSU Softball Field.

The Blazers (14-19) and Bulldogs (18-15) will be facing each other for the second time this season. MSU came away with an 8-3 win back on March 8 at George Ward Park in Birmingham. UAB enters Tuesday's contest riding a modest two-game winning streak after sweeping a doubleheader from Georgia State last Friday in Atlanta, winning by a count of 7-4 in nine innings in the first game and then taking the second game by a score of 5-2.

UAB went 1-2 against East Carolina last week at home to begin conference play, while Mississippi State stands 0-6 in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs begin a 10-game homestand with Tuesday's game.

Junior left fielder Chelsea McCall is leading the way on offense for the Blazers as she is currently batting .293 with a team-best 29 hits. Senior CF Sara Christophel is hitting .275 with two home runs and a team-leading 12 RBI. True freshman Leigh Walker owns a .271 average and hit her first-career home run versus Georgia State last week. Walker has 15 hits and five RBI.

UAB's pitching staff, which has been paced by senior right-hander Erica Mascarenas, has a team ERA of 3.20. Mascarenas is 4-1 with a 1.65 ERA. Freshman Jennifer Nelson is 5-4 with a 2.82 ERA and fellow freshman Amanda Antonovich is a mere 3-7 but her ERA is a very respectable 2.82.

The Blazers return to conference play this weekend as the DePaul Blue Demons come to town for a three-game series. The teams will play a doubleheader at 4 p.m. on Friday and then wrap up the series with a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.