Florida Tech Invitational is Early Test for UWA Softball

MELBOURNE, Fla. – When the University of West Alabama softball team takes the field for the Florida Tech Invitational this weekend at the USSSA Space Coast Complex, the games while still early in the season will be hugely important for the team long term.

Four out of five opponents during the three-day tournament are against NCAA South Regional opponents out of the Sunshine State Conference which is a chief competitor in filling at-large bids for the postseason tournament.

The Tigers are 2-2 on the season coming out of last week's Gulf Coast Invitational. Hayes Fulford left the weekend as the batting leader with a .400 average thanks to six hits with three RBIs and a double. Kylie Martin also posted three RBIs and Kierra Hague smashed UWA's first home run of the season. Kendall Johnson was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen bases and drew a team high four walks.

West Alabama's first opponent of the tournament is Saint Leo (4-0) who will feature junior outfielder Alexis Miniet who earned SSC Player of the Week honors as she went .600 at the plate and accounted for 10 runs across the four games with seven runs batted in and three runs scored. The matchup is set for a 3:30 p.m. central start on Friday.

Then at 6 p.m. Friday, UWA and Florida Southern will matchup. The Mocs (1-1) split a pair of games with Ursuline Monday to start the season. Freshman pitcher Tiana Hernandez threw a complete game shutout in her collegiate debut with eight strikeouts and three hits allowed. FSC is the second team out of the SSC on the schedule for the weekend.

Thursday's first matchup pits the Tigers against another SSC team in Palm Beach Atlantic (4-1) at 10 a.m. central. The Sailfish also played at the Gulf Coast Invitational going 2-1 in Gulf Shores, Alabama before going home to sweep a doubleheader with Washburn. Magnolia West, the all-time hits leader at PBA, has posted a .556 average with 10 hits, a double, a triple and four runs scored coming into the weekend. Meanwhile, junior Abbey Busby is 3-0 with a 0.70 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 20 innings pitched, however she's allowed 18 hits and opponents have a .228 batting average against her.

Later on Saturday at 1 p.m., West Alabama steps out of region play against Molloy College out of the East Coast Conference. Molloy will be opening the season during the tournament and will rely on ECC Rookie of the Year and outfielder Alex Burns as well as First Team All-ECC selection Courtney Greene who split team at pitcher, first base and outfield. The Lions were picked for a fourth-place finish in their conference.

The tournament concludes Sunday at 10 a.m. against the Florida Tech Panthers. Winners of the SSC last season and ranked ninth in the preseason NFCA poll, the Panthers are off to an 0-3 start with all three losses coming in Gulf Shores. Senior infielder Vanessa Rubio is hitting .400 with an RBI to her credit.

Links to live stats and live video for all games will be on uwaathletics.com. Video, provided by usssalive.com, will cost $4.99 for the duration of the tournament to view all games. Audio will be provided for the UWA and FT matchup Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

#23 Hayes Fulford: 3B/SS; 5' 6"; Senior; R/R

#2 Kierra Hague: OF/C; 5' 8"; Senior; R/R

#5 Kendall Johnson: MIF; 5' 4"; Junior; R/R

#11 Kylie Martin: 1B/3B; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#23 Hayes Fulford
: 5' 6"; Senior; R/R
: 3B/SS

#2 Kierra Hague
: 5' 8"; Senior; R/R
: OF/C

#5 Kendall Johnson
: 5' 4"; Junior; R/R
: MIF

#11 Kylie Martin
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: 1B/3B