BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (February 22, 2024) – The University of North Alabama softball team is staying in-state for its third round-robin tournament of the season this weekend, as the Lions will play at the UAB Green & Gold Classic on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham.
 
UNA will join nationally-ranked Alabama, Bradley, Western Carolina and host school UAB in the tournament. The Lions will take on Bradley and WCU on Friday morning at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. On Saturday, UNA will battle the Blazers and rematch the Crimson Tide, who defeated the Lions on Wednesday in Tuscaloosa.
 
All four games will have live stats available, while the UAB game will be streamed on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased online and are sold on a per day basis.
 
GAME 1
Bradley vs. North Alabama
Friday, February 23
9 a.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
 
GAME 2
North Alabama vs. Western Carolina
Friday, February 23
11:15 a.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
 
GAME 3
North Alabama at UAB
Saturday, February 24
1:30 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets
 
GAME 4
North Alabama vs. Alabama
Saturday, February 24
6 p.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
 
NOTES
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: The Lions enter the weekend with a 7-4 record following back-to-back losses for the first time this season. UNA owns quality wins over Samford, Troy, UT Martin, Murray State, WKU and in-state rival Jacksonville State this season. Prior to Wednesday's setback at Alabama, UNA ranked top three in the Atlantic Sun Conference in hitting and pitching with a .272 average and a 2.12 ERA. The Lions have 13 returning letterwinners and 13 newcomers, including 10 transfers.
 
SCOUTING THE BRAVES: Bradley has a 1-4 record following five games in Las Vegas last week. The Braves are led by Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week Tori Meyer, who hit .500 at the Desert Classic with 21 total bases. She hit for the cycle in the lone win over UNLV. Sydney Kennedy leads in the circle with a 1-1 record and 4.04 ERA over 17.1 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS: Western Carolina has a 2-1 record, opening the season at the Alabama State Stinger Classic with wins over Hampton and Houston Christian and a loss to ASUN opponent Austin Peay. Last season, WCU finished 21-26 overall, falling to ETSU in the third game of the Southern Conference tournament. Three Catamounts are batting .400 this season, including senior utility Savannah Baldwin with a double, a triple and five RBIs. In the circle, WCU has been dominant with a team-ERA of 0.95 over 22 innings.
 
SCOUTING THE BLAZERS: UAB enters the home tournament with a 4-6 record, including wins over IUPUI, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and Samford. The win over Samford came in midweek action this week, as the Blazers rallied back to force extra innings and erupted in the 10th inning to win 10-4. Bella Wiggins and Lindsey Smith have a team-high 10 hits, while Leigha Kirby and Caitlin Russell have combined for 43.1 innings with respective 3.72 and 2.88 ERAs.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE: Alabama came into the week nationally-ranked as high as No. 10 in the polls, improving to a perfect 11-0 record with a 9-1 win over UNA on Wednesday. Alabama returns 15 letterwinners from last season, including four players who were All-SEC, SEC All-Tournament or NFCA All-Region. There are also seven newcomers, including five transfers. Lauren Johnson and Abby Duchscherer are both batting above .400 over 11 games. The Tide have a team-ERA of 0.49 with all five pitchers below a 1.30 ERA, including four with at least 12 innings pitched.
 
SERIES HISTORIES: The Lions have a 4-8 combined record against the field since moving to Division I, including a 2-1 record over Bradley and a 2-2 record with UAB. The Lions won each of the last two meetings with Bradley in 2022 and 2023. All four games with UAB have been decided by three runs or less, including an 11-9 win by UNA in Birmingham last season. Western Carolina won the lone meeting against UNA back in 2021, while Alabama is 4-0 against the Lions.
 
WILKEN WORKING: Junior transfer Alivia Wilken has been a force in the circle for UNA, owning a 4-2 record and 1.93 ERA over 36.1 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts and six walks. She also picked up a save against Troy, claiming credit for half of UNA's wins this season. She tossed the first perfect game in school history in her UNA debut against Samford and retired 27 straight batters over three games before allowing a hit.
 
DUSKIN DUO: The Lions have quite a one-two punch in the circle with fellow junior transfer Cassidy Duskin. The Northeast Mississippi product has a 3-1 record with a 2.75 ERA over 28.0 innings. She has 11 strikeouts and has walked just three batters all season.
 
KEEPING UP WITH JONES: The Atlantic Sun Conference named UNA junior second baseman Hailey Jones the ASUN Player of the Week on Monday, marking her first weekly award. Jones went 6-for-17 at the plate for a .353 average last week in Chattanooga, totaling six hits over the first three games of the Chattanooga Challenge. She had a triple and two doubles, while driving home runs against WKU and Jacksonville State. She also had a 1.000 fielding percentage with 12 putouts and nine assists. Jones followed that performance by going 2-for-3 at the plate against Alabama.
 
FRESH FACES: UNA has both the 2023 Times Daily Large School Player of the Year and 2023 Times Daily Small School Player of the year on the roster in Loretto's Briley Dover and Mars Hill's Emma Kate Wright. Dover has started every game at third base this season with a .281 batting average, including nine hits, a triple, a homer, six runs and six RBIs. Wright had her first-career hit in just three at-bats, coming in a pinch-hitting situation against WKU.
 
HOMERS FOR HOMERS: The Lions have had five home runs this season, including two from Haven Kirby against Troy in a 7-4 win two weeks ago. The other homers came from Dover, Ryleigh Boyett and McKenzie Patterson.
 
OUT HERE IN THE FIELD: UNA entered the week as one of the top 12 teams nationally in fielding percentage and double plays per game. UNA also ranked 10th in double plays turned per game with seven on the season, including four involving Kirby and three involving Dover. Following Wednesday's game at Alabama, the Lions have a .981 fielding percentage with just six errors on 312 chances.
 
ON THE HORIZON: UNA will play its final round robin road tournament next week at MTSU along with Bradley and Army. The following week will be the UNA Tournament in Florence from March 8-10, as the Lions will host games against Maryland Eastern Shore, Southern Miss, Murray State and Detroit Mercy.
 
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.