New UAB softball coach likes BLAZERS’ competitiveness early in season
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 22, 2025
The softball season is just two weekends old but UAB softball coach Taylor Smartt already has a good grasp on her first Blazer team.
“Yeah, I think obviously in the beginning of the year, you hope to be prepared to come out and fight and all that,” Smartt said. “I think the thing that they’ve shown is that we are competitive and we are grittier, I guess, than maybe they’ve shown in the past. I'm really proud of that. I know it's almost like we can do hard things and we have more in us than we think and they've shown that at times. I think different people are stepping up at different times, so it's not just the same person doing it. We're athletic, we can run a little bit, we're going to create chaos on the bases. Then, on the defensive side and the pitching side, we're going to get outs in different ways. It doesn’t have to be the big strikeout but it’s going to be some way. It’s just kind of more of a team win in different ways.”
The Blazers are 6-3 as they head into the Green & Gold Classic at Mary Bowers Field. UAB plays a pair of games on Saturday, beginning with a game against University of Southern Indiana at noon, have two more games on Sunday and conclude with a rematch with Samford on Monday at 4 p.m. Samford beat the Blazers twice in the Samford Invitational last weekend. Other teams in the Green & Gold Classic include Belmont and Purdue.
For Smartt, it’s another early step in her tenure as the program’s head coach. The former Troy standout spent eight seasons on the staff at her alma mater before becoming the associate head coach and assistant coach in charge of defense for a FAU team that played in a NCAA Regional last season. She becomes the third head coach at UAB in the past five seasons.
“At the end of the day, nobody cares how much you know, it’s how much you care,” Smartt said. “I try to love them and let them know who I am to my core and know it’s way bigger than softball. Although softball is the piece I get to show that to them through, I’m trying to let them know I’m not doing it just to do it. I truly care about them and I want them to become better people as well as softball players.”
She inherited a roster that has more experience with the position players than the pitching staff. Seniors Bella Wiggins (.500 batting average, 10 hits, 8 runs, 5 RBI, 10 of 11 stolen base attempts) and Lindsey Smith (.393, 11 hits, 7 runs, 7 RBI, 2 home runs) are the leaders. But that’s just the start for a lineup that includes seven more players - Hannah Dorsett, Auburn Dupree, Hope Tucker, Alyssa Aguilar, Antonia Henderson, Hannah Miles and Brantlee Wortham hitting at least .315 through two weeks of the season. As a team, the Blazers are hitting .362.
The top pitchers thus far are sophomore Carolina McLendon (3-0, 0.46 ERA, 15.1 innings pitched, 2 complete games, 13 strikeouts, 4 walks) and freshman Tait Davidson (3-1, 2.59 ERA, 24.1 innings pitched, 3 complete games, 20 strikeouts, 8 walks).
Davidson, who comes from nearby Vestavia Hills High, opened her college career with a no-hitter in a 7-0 win over Northwestern State in the South Alabama Invitational in Mobile. Davidson allowed two base runners – one walk and one hit by pitch – and struck out seven while throwing 101 pitches. The Blazers played error free behind Davidson.
“It was great,” said Davidson, who was an all-state pitcher at Vestavia Hills. “Honestly, it would not have been done without my teammates behind me. There were some really great plays defensively, and the hitting was just outstanding. So, I'm just really thankful for them.”