Softball Rounds Out Non-Conference Schedule with Midweek Date at UAB

Tuesday, April 16

Birmingham, Ala.

5:00 PM

Mississippi State

UAB

The Bulldogs round out their non-conference schedule on Tuesday in Birmingham.

Softball Rounds Out Non-Conference Schedule with Midweek Date at UAB

April 15, 2019 | Softball

Live Stats Watch Live Game Notes

by Taylor Shirey, Assistant Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – In the final non-conference contest of the 2019 regular season, Mississippi State softball (25-17) makes the short trek to Birmingham, Alabama to face UAB (15-26) Wednesday at Mary Bower Field.

First pitch against the Blazers is slated for 5 p.m. CT. The non-conference finale will be streamed on via CUSA.tv.

The Bulldogs are coming off a tough road series at No. 9/8 Tennessee, dropping all three contests to the Lady Vols. Sophomore Mia Davidson turned in another impressive performance at the plate, slugging her 21^st home run of the season in Knoxville. She now stands tied for seventh in Southeastern Conference single-season history.

Davidson leads the SEC and is tied with Arizona's Jessie Harper for the NCAA Division I lead in home runs with 21. Junior Fa Leilua has knocked 19 homers over her debut season in Maroon and White to rank third in the conference and fifth nationally. Mississippi State is the lone program in Division I softball with two student-athletes with 19 or more home runs this season.

Sophomore Emily Williams leads Mississippi State's pitching staff with a team-low 2.73 earned run average while holding an 8-6 record in the circle. Williams ranks seventh in the SEC with 104 strikeouts this season and has recorded a team-leading three shutouts.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Overall: Mississippi State leads, 15-6
In Birmingham: Mississippi State leads, 5-2
Last Meeting: Mississippi State def. UAB, 8-0 [6 innings] (March 25, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Current Streak: Mississippi State, +1

LEADING OFF

Mississippi State rounds out its non-conference slate on Tuesday with its finale midweek contest of the season, trekking to Birmingham to face UAB.
The Bulldogs hold a 15-6 overall record in the all-time series against the Blazer and are making their first trek to Birmingham since 2015.
In the fifth RPI release of the 2019 season, Mississippi State comes in at No. 30. Ten SEC programs currently rank within the top 30 in the latest RPI standings.
In her eighth season at the helm of the Bulldogs, head coach Vann Stuedeman has collected 266 career wins and is now just 29 shy from tying the program record for most victories by a MSU head coach.
Slugging her 21st home run of the season on April 13 at Tennessee, sophomore Mia Davidson now it tied for the Division I lead in home runs with Arizona's Jessie Harper.
With 21 home runs this season, sophomore Mia Davidson holds Mississippi State's single-season record and stands for a tied for seventh in SEC single-season history for total home runs.
Through the first 42 games of the season, Mississippi State has knocked 57 total home runs, setting a new single-season record for the program.
Striking out only four times in 84 at bats, sophomore Carter Spexarth ranks as the second toughest batter in the SEC to strike out, only doing so once every 21.0 at bats.
Junior Fa Leilua slugged her 19th home run of the season versus Memphis (April 10) to set MSU's junior home run record. In just her first season at MSU, Leilua already ranks 10th in program history in career bombs.
Senior Sarai Niu enters the week with 1,105 career putouts to her credit. She is just the fourth Bulldog in program history to record 1,100 or more putouts over a career. She is just 325 putouts shy of MSU's career record held by Cheri Smith (1998-01).
Mississippi State is the lone program in all of Division I softball to have two student-athletes with 19+ home runs this season as both sophomore Mia Davidson (21) and junior Fa Leilua (19) rank first and fifth, respectively, in all of Division I softball.
Sophomore Emily Williams delivered No. 7/5 LSU its first shutout loss of season with a 6-0 victory on April 5. It marked the first time in program history that MSU has shut out the Tigers.
With an impressive come-from-behind, extra-innings victory over No. 4/4 Alabama on March 31 to prevent the series sweep, Mississippi State recorded its first win in Tuscaloosa over the Tide since the 2013 season.

WATCH LIVE
Tuesday's midweek contest will be streamed live on CUSA.tv/BlazerVision.

Mississippi State at UAB

LIVE STATS
UAB will provide live stats for Tuesday's midweek contest. Live Stats can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.

ADMISSION
Admission to Mary Bowers Field is FREE.

WEATHER
Tuesday: 80 Degrees – Mostly Sunny (0%)

ON DECK
Mississippi State rounds outs it home schedule with back-to-back SEC series at Nusz Park, beginning this week against in-state rival No. 17/15 Ole Miss. The series begins on Thursday, April 18 at 6 p.m. CT. Game two of the series will receive national attention on the SEC Network at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, April 19. The series finale on Saturday, April 20 will be MSU's Senior Day as the Bulldogs honor Kat Moore, Emily Heimberger, Bevia Robinson, Taylor Kelly and Sarai Niu in a post-game ceremony. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE DAWGS
For more on Mississippi State softball, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSB." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap".