SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA softball team will hit the road for a three-game series, traveling to face second-place UAB at Mary Bowers Field. Due to anticipated weather on Saturday, the series will open with a doubleheader on Friday, starting at 3 p.m. before resuming on Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games will be live on CUSA TV.
UAB (21-16, 9-3 C-USA) sits in second place in the West Division standings entering the clash with the Roadrunners (12-23, 5-7 C-USA). UTSA is coming off a series that saw the Roadrunners take the opening game of the three game set vs. first-place North Texas, while UAB also posted a win over East Division first place Western Kentucky last weekend.
The Roadrunners enter the matchup sporting a team 4.94 ERA with 132 strikeouts in 224 innings, while hitting .234/.345/.415 as a team with 42 homers in 35 games.
Riley Grunberg leads the team with a .333 average, adding 10 homers and a team-best 26 RBI. Kat Ibarra has hit .327 with five homers and 16 RBI, while Camryn Robillard owns five homers and 19 RBI. Marena Estell (3-8, 4.01 ERA) has been a two-way impact player in 2022, hitting 10 homers and driving in 23 runs, while working 59.1 innings on the mound.
UTSA has also seen lefty Alexa Williams (3-5, 4.06 ERA) appear in 20 games with eight starts and Jamie Gilbert (3-4, 4.67 ERA) work in 25 games with 12 starts and a team-leading 72 innings. Kloey Harlson (1-1, 7.00 ERA) has worked in five games with three starts and Tatum Seith (2-5, 8.06 ERA) owns 13 games and seven starts.
UAB has hit .269/.341/.383 as a team in 2022 with 12 homers in 37 games and 22 steals. On the mound, UAB has a 4.55 ERA in 255.1 innings, walking 79 and striking out 178.
Olivia Valbak (3-7, 3.82 ERA), Sarah Cespedes (9-3, 3.95 ERA), Makenna Pierce (5-2, 4.58 ERA) and Bailey Tindell (2-4, 5.63 ERA) have worked in the majority of the innings for the Blazers, with Cespedes striking out 65 in 86.2 innings over 25 outings and 17 starts.
Faith Hegh leads the team with a .328 average, with Bella Wiggins hitting .317 and Jolie Readeaux hitting .310. Sierra Frazier owns a team-leading four homers and 33 RBI, batting .298.
The Blazers lead the all-time series with UTSA, 11-10 and are 3-3 in games played in Birmingham. UTSA will be in search of its first series win in Birmingham since 2016. Last year, UAB won all four games in San Antonio, including a Saturday doubleheader.
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