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Softball Closes Regular Season at Home against UAB
April 27, 2009
For Immediate Release MEMPHIS - The 2009 softball regular season comes to a close for the University of Memphis when it hosts a three-game series with UAB on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Tiger Softball Complex. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Tuesday at 3 and 5 p.m. and finish with a single game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The series is crucial for both Memphis (21-27, 6-15) and UAB (17-32, 6-15) who are tied for the eighth in Conference USA and are looking to advance up in the seedings for the league tournament that starts next Thursday in El Paso, Texas. The series with UAB is tied at five wins apiece. The last two years, Memphis has ended the season for UAB. Last year, the Tigers beat the Blazers 8-6 in the C-USA Championship play-in game in Houston, Texas. In 2007, Memphis swept UAB at home and then swept UCF to jump ahead of the Blazers in the standing and take the final spot in the C-USA Championship when only the top six teams made the tournament. The U of M is 3-0 at home all-time against UAB. The Blazers hold the all-time scoring advantage at 44-36. Last week, Memphis won its first shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory to open a three-game home stand with UCF. However, the Knights posted back-to-back comeback victories in games two and three to take the series. Both losses were decided by one run and Memphis took the opening lead in each game. Ten of the Tigers' 29 losses this season have come by one run. Memphis is 4-10 in one-run games this year. Since March 28, Memphis has been involved in 11 one-run games and is 4-7 in those games. Four of the last six losses, including the two against UCF, have come by one run. Janelle Valle has been a bright spot in the circle for Memphis down the stretch. The sophomore southpaw leads the team with a 2.84 ERA and is 8-12 in 21 starts with 71 strikeouts in 133.1 innings. She threw the team's first shutout of the season in a 2-0 two-hitter against UCF. In her last seven appearances, Valle sports a 1.69 ERA in 37.1 innings and opponents are hitting .203 off her. She is 2-3 during the period. Senior Leila Dolfo leads the Tigers in hitting with a .322 average, 24 RBI and 22 runs scored. Senior Brittany Gooch is second on the team in batting with a .315 average and leads the team with 16 steals. In their last outing, UAB fell to the Troy Trojans in a doubleheader at Troy, Ala. on Friday. The Trojans downed UAB, 4-1, in the first game before shutting out the Blazers, 4-0, in the nightcap. Troy's pitchers were able to strikeout 22 Blazers on the night. Freshman Lindsey Croft leads the Blazers in ERA (3.66), innings pitched (160.2) and strikeouts (112). She is 6-17 on the season. Freshman Amber Torres leads the team in wins and is 7-6 on the year. Redshirt junior Martina Landrum is leading UAB in hitting with a .352 average and 33 runs scored. She has stolen 30 of the team's 55 bases this season and is 30-for-34 in steal attempts. All three games against UAB can be followed through live stats provided by CBS College Sports GameTracker. Live video with play-by-play called by Dan O'Brien is also available to All-Access subscribers. Links to the live broadcasts can be found at GoTigersGo.com Next week, Memphis will compete in the Helen of Troy C-USA Championship in El Paso, Texas. The single-elimination tournament begins on Thursday, May 7.
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Memphis Tigers
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