The Blazers, facing Shockers ace Alison Cooper, wasted no time building a threat in the top of the first inning: left fielder Auburn Dupree opened the afternoon with a single, second baseman Hannah Dorsett was plucked by a pitch, and center fielder Bella Wiggins laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. In the blink of an eye, UAB had put two runners in scoring position.

Up next was the cleanup hitter Smith, a slugger singlehandedly boasting 20% of the Blazers’ RBIs and over half of their home runs. After taking a healthy cut at a high fastball, Smith smacked Cooper’s 2-1 offering deep into the opposite field. Her bases-clearing triple drove in Dupree and Wiggins, giving UAB a 2-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

T1 | Lindsey Smith

A 2RBI Triple sends two Blazers across home plate to put the 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐀𝐑𝐃

2 – 0 #WinAsOne | @Lindsey37Smith pic.twitter.com/rbtFysowcX

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 19, 2024

The Blazers, who had lost 10 of 12 entering the month, have turned their season around over the last three weeks. Friday’s victory marked UAB’s seventh in their last nine games; through two-thirds of April, the Blazers have recorded nearly as many wins as they did in the entirety of March. As of Saturday afternoon, UAB sits fourth in the conference standings, ahead of traditional powerhouses like Wichita State and USF.

The team’s turnaround can be attributed to several factors. UAB’s batters have looked more confident at the plate; although the offense has cooled off recently, the Blazers posted an impressive 29 runs in their first four conference games of the month. Pitchers Caitlin Russell and Leigha Kirby have been excellent, each currently sporting ERAs under 3.05. The heartbreaking one-run games that never went UAB’s way in March have also started to swing in the Blazers’ favor.

However, it’s no coincidence that their winning streak directly coincides with the dominance of Smith. Although the junior has been one of UAB’s best hitters all season, she’s taken things to another level over the last three weeks, recording five extra-base hits and making several game-saving plays that have changed the complexion of the Blazers’ campaign.

Smith opened the month in style, blasting a two-run homer against league-leading North Texas before fans even had a chance to find their seats.

B1 | CUE THE SONG!

Lindsey Smith sends a 2RBI to left field to put the Blazers on the Board!

2 – 0 #WinAsOne | @Lindsey37Smith pic.twitter.com/tMLWgHf9DC

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 5, 2024

Just an inning later, she smashed a double down the left field line, driving in two runs and staking UAB to a 7-0 lead they wouldn’t give up.

B2 | Don't let them Blazers get hot!

The Green and Gold go on a rally to plate two more batters!

7 – 0 pic.twitter.com/vMc9Nf1vAx

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 5, 2024

Smith’s performance in the UNT opener was a crucial catalyst for a UAB team that, at the time, was in the midst of their worst stretch of the season. A rough March had concluded with three excruciating road losses at Tulsa, all of which were decided by two runs or fewer. Smith’s four quick RBIs allowed the Blazers to avoid playing from behind, something they’d been forced to do for several consecutive games.

The next day’s matchup was a battle of attrition, a frustrating game that saw the two teams strand a combined 17 runners. North Texas finally broke through in the top of the eighth inning, scrapping out a run that made the score 3-2.

Smith was tasked with dispersing the memories of March’s close-game struggles, and she did so without delay. The leadoff hitter sliced the first pitch she saw into the right-field gap.

B8 | LINDSEY SMITH ARE YOU KIDDING ME

A double to right center puts the 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄#WinAsOne | @Lindsey37Smith pic.twitter.com/CZo1wWfInP

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 6, 2024

The double put Smith into scoring position, from where she would quickly score on a throwing error. Infielder Alyssa Aguilar proceed to drive home Kaily Collett, securing a walk-off Blazer victory.

Smith recorded two singles the next day in UAB’s sweep-clinching victory. She finished the series with four RBIs, three extra-base hits, and a batting average over .500, earning her an AAC Honor Roll nod.

Perfect fielding percentage, over .500 hitting… and a few RBIs for good measures.

Lindsey Smith has been named to this week’s AAC Honor Roll!#WinAsOne | @Lindsey37Smith pic.twitter.com/B4SnuZdDSV

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 8, 2024

The third baseman was quiet in the Blazers’ subsequent three-game series against Memphis, taking just six total at-bats, but stellar pitching and timely hitting secured UAB a sweep.

Through two games against Wichita State, Smith is back to her old ways: after hitting the aforementioned triple on Friday, she smashed her seventh homer of the season on Saturday, giving the Blazers what would prove to be their only run of the afternoon.

T4 | Lindsey Goes 𝐘𝐀𝐑𝐃

Smith sends a solo shot to put the Blazers on the Board!#WinAsOne | @Lindsey37Smith pic.twitter.com/TV5YKZ1aF3

— UAB Softball (@UAB_SB) April 21, 2024

Smith is now batting .296/.382/.583, a triple slash that ranks as one of the conference’s twenty best. She is by far UAB’s premier power threat: Smith leads the Blazers in slugging percentage, doubles, home runs, and RBIs. Center fielder Bella Wiggins, UAB’s second-most-prolific home run hitter, has just two HRs to Smith’s seven. Smith or Wiggins pace the Blazers in nearly every offensive statistic.

The efforts of Smith and her teammates have put UAB in a position to make a run at a top seed; the conference’s top two teams receive double byes at May’s AAC Tournament. The Blazers currently sit two games behind second-place Charlotte, who come to Birmingham next weekend.

Although the Blazers suffered their first conference loss of the month on Saturday afternoon, they look to take the series against Wichita State tomorrow at 10 AM on ESPN+.

The Green and Gold are coming off a disappointing 2023 campaign in which they won just 17 games; one of UAB’s main problems last year was a lack of offensive options. Barring outfielder Logan Braunschweig, no Blazer finished with a batting average north of .270. Only two UAB hitters were above average by wRC+: Braunschweig and the since-departed Christian Hall.

Hitting was a clear offseason priority for Dunn and company, and offensive improvement is apparent just eight games into the campaign. The Blazers scored 7.33 runs per game against a Kennesaw State team that beat Clemson by 17; they’ve scored seven runs in each of their last two contests, including the one against the 16th-ranked Crimson Tide. UAB reached the seven-run mark just four times in 2023 — they’ve already done so four times this season alone.

The offense is still prone to bouts of inactivity. The Blazers have posted three or fewer runs in half of their games and have often failed to score in the later innings — blown leads have been an Achilles heel for this team throughout February.

However, the top half of UAB’s lineup has been much more formidable than last year. Logan Braunschweig, still a productive engine atop the batting order, is no longer tasked with carrying the entirety of the Blazers’ offensive load. The first few weeks of the season have seen two players in particular emerge as premier hitters.

Montevallo transfer Jake Smallwood has been a revelation for the Blazers, who struggled to get offensive production from their catchers in 2023.

Smallwood hasn’t just been serviceable in the box — he’s arguably been UAB’s most productive hitter. Through eight games and 33 plate appearances, the grad student is batting .333 with an on-base percentage of .455 and an OPS of .825. He’s drawn five walks, tied for the team lead, and has struck out just twice in 27 at-bats.

Smallwood has tormented opposing pitchers with his tenacity at the plate. He boasts a 0.40 K:BB ratio, fifth in the AAC among players with 20+ plate appearances. The catcher strikes out in just 6.1% of his PAs and walks in 15.2% of them. The Decatur native has been indomitable all season, even against top-level competition: in two games against Alabama and Auburn, Smallwood batted a combined .333, drew a walk, scored a run, and struck out just once.

Outside of good swing decisions, much of the catcher’s success can be attributed to an impressive batted ball profile. Just 29.2% of Smallwood’s balls put in play are grounders, while 33.3% are line drives and 37.5% are fly balls.

Line drives turn into hits more often than any other contact type, and Smallwood manufactures them at an astounding rate — of UAB’s everyday starters, no one comes close to matching his line drive percentage. Tyler Harrington’s 19.2 LD%, 14.1 points below Smallwood’s, ranks second on the team.

LD% tends to be unstable throughout a season, so slight regression might be in order for the Blazer catcher. Still, Smallwood’s excellent walk rate and aversion to strikeouts will keep him a productive contributor for the rest of the year.

Brayton Brown, an Auburn left fielder from 2020 to 2022, never saw more than 40 plate appearances in a season as a Tiger. During his final year on the Plains, Brown stood at the plate just 17 times.

He signed with Casey Dunn’s Blazers in 2023 and was quickly thrust into a cornerstone role: the Selma native recorded 213 PAs last season alone. The transition was jarring. In his first year in Birmingham, Brown hit just .210, posted a K:BB ratio of 4.54, and recorded a wRC+ of 65, his worst career mark.

A year later, Brown is leading the Blazers in home runs after what was clearly an offseason of improvement. Last November, D1Baseball’s Aaron Fitt praised Brown’s “compact 5-foot-9, 192-pound frame” and “quiet, upright approach in the box,” impressed by a massive homer the senior hit in a fall ball game against Georgia Tech.

Brown has utilized that frame to significant effect in 2024; he’s become the true power threat UAB was hoping he’d be last season. Just last night, the DH nearly homered off MLB draft prospect Zane Adams, sending a low fastball bouncing off the left field wall.

It’s early, but the designated hitter boasts an impressive triple slash of .313/.378/.531, a huge step up from his ’23 line.

His counting stats are also encouraging. Brown has stepped to the plate 37 times this season and has already racked up 25% of his 2023 hits, 40% of his 2023 home runs, 23% of his 2023 walks, and 100% of his 2023 stolen bases.

And that K:BB ratio of 4.54 I mentioned earlier, the worst individual mark in Conference USA last season? Brown has cut it down by over 55% to just 2.00. Heavily hampered by strikeout problems in 2023, the powerful righty isn’t currently top-three in Ks on the UAB roster. He’s also upped his walk rate: as noted above, Brown, who drew 13 walks all of last season, has already recorded three free passes.

Fun fact: Brown is the cousin of AL ROY Gunnar Henderson. The two were teammates at Selma’s Morgan Academy.