Tide Softball Hosts Birmingham-Southern on Wednesday
4/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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The 10th ranked Crimson Tide softball team steps out of conference play again this week as Alabama hosts in-state rival Birmingham-Southern (20-20) in a 7:00 p.m. contest on Wednesday at the University of Alabama Softball Complex.
The rivalry is fairly new between the two schools with Alabama claiming 8-3 and 9-2 victories in both games against the Panthers last year, the only two match-ups between the team.
Bama and Birmingham-Southern play twice again this year with one game being played at each team's stadium.
The Crimson Tide, currently on a five-game winning streak, is coming off a weekend sweep of SEC West rival Mississippi State. A series that saw the Alabama bats come to life as the Tide posted wins of 8-0, 4-1 and 9-1. The last time Alabama stepped out of conference play was last week when the team traveled to Huntsville, Alabama to take on the Belmont Bruins, a game Alabama won 6-0.
The Panthers are coming off a doubleheader split with the same Belmont Bruins, dropping the first game 1-0 before winning the night cap 4-1.
The two schools have seven common opponents between them with Alabama rolling up a record of 10-1 against Auburn, Sam Houston State, UAB, Samford, Middle Tennessee Troy and Belmont. Birmingham-Southern has compiled a 6-6 record against those same schools.
Senior Ashley Courtney leads the Tide offensively, ranking first on the team in average (.396), runs (38), hits (61), triples (5) and stolen bases (19).
Junior Stephanie VanBrakle leads the Alabama pitching staff with a 22-4 record and 212 strikeouts in 162.2 innings pitched. Freshman Chrissy Owens is the team leader with a 1.05 ERA and a staff best .157 opponent batting average.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Fans can follow all the action at www.rolltide.com where live stats and audio will be available. In the Tuscaloosa area, all the action can be heard at WVUA 90.7 FM where Chad Anderson will call all the balls and strikes.
