Bulldogs Travel to UAB for Tuesday Tilt
February 28, 2011 | Softball
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State returns to the softball field on Tuesday, traveling to Birmingham to meet UAB in a 6 p.m. first pitch at the UAB Softball Facility.
State enters the game 6-9 on the year and seeking a second-straight win against a Conference USA foe following last Wednesday's 6-4 home victory against Southern Mississippi.
Tuesday's game will actually be the first of two-straight meetings against a C-USA member, as Memphis will visit the Dawgs at 3 p.m. Friday during opening-day action at the Bulldog Classic.
The Bulldogs lead the series with UAB 12-1. State has won 10-straight against the Blazers, including 6-2 and 4-0 triumphs last season in Starkville.
Vestavia Hills, Ala., native Ali Bainbridge returns to her hometown area leading Mississippi State with a .348 batting average and five doubles. Bainbridge also has a triple, a home run, four RBI and 12 runs scored to her credit.
Senior Courtney Nesbit has enjoyed a career season in her final campaign, and she continued her stellar start last weekend as she belted three home runs in the Phyllis Rafter Memorial near her hometown of Acworth, Ga.
Nesbit boasts a .347 batting average and leads the team with five home runs and three triples. She also has three doubles while driving in 15 runs, second-most on the squad behind fellow Georgia native Heidi Shape's 16.
Junior Ka'ili Smith had a hot bat last weekend, leading MSU with a .533 average (8-for-15). The Kapolei, Hawaii, native, hit her second home run of the season and drove in two runs while scoring four more.
Smith's sensational weekend jumped her 2011 average to .346. She has also accounted for 18 runs, driving in nine while scoring nine more.
In the circle, sophomore Kylie Vry has thrown a team-high 46 innings and struck out 30 while compiling a 2.74 ERA.
Mississippi State will meet a UAB squad that is paced by Kayla Orr's .348 average. Orr and Kate Armstrong lead the Blazers in doubles (4) and RBI (10).
Defensively, Lauren Webster's four wins lead a pitching staff that has seen five players notch victories. Over 27 innings, Webster has struck out 32 and been touched for a 1.04 ERA.
Leigh Streetman boasts a 2-2 record and has K'd 38 while allowing seven earned runs over 32.1 innings of work.
