The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Southern Miss
Softball Beats Southern Miss, 6-0
5/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 9, 2002
TAMPA - UAB's Kerri Foster pitched a 7-0 shutout over No. 3 Southern Miss, two-time defending C-USA champs, in game three of the C-USA Softball Tournament on Thursday at the USF Softball Complex. Foster completed the game for the Blazers, striking out seven and only giving up four hits for her 14th win of the season.
UAB jumped on the board early in the first, taking a 3-0 lead. Beth Mullins hit her seventh double of the season to score Cliffanie Engram. Mullins and Hithe would also score on Golden Eagle throwing errors.
Foster held Southern Miss hitless until the third inning, when Amanda Ellis singled to centerfield. However, Foster remained strong, giving up only three more hits in the game.
In the seventh inning and with the bases loaded, Mullins was hit by a pitch to score Ellis. Kai Paul followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Candice Hithe home and Aimee Vaughn singled to right to score Sara Christophel.
Southern Miss' Jessica Holoway earned the loss and falls to13-13 on the season. She struck out three and gave up four runs in seven innings pitched.
"We have worked all season towards playing with every asset of the game and peaking at the right time," said Head Coach Marla Townsend. "This game showed that all the hard work this season paid off. We capitalized on early errors by Southern Miss that took the pressure off our pitcher and our defense. Scoring three more runs in the top of the seventh just added a little security to our lead."
UAB (38-20) will now face the winner of the DePaul/Louisville contest on Friday at 3:30 p.m in the semi-final game. This marks the Blazers first semi-final appearance in a C-USA tournament. The Golden Eagles fall to 26-34 on the season and will next meet South Florida on Friday at 10:30 p.m.
