The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Birmingham-Southern
UAB Softball Team Finishes Magic City Classic With Victory
3/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2005
Birmingham-Southern Box Score | Samford Box Score
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB softball team edged the host Samford Bulldogs, 2-1, on Sunday in its finale in the 2005 Union State Bank Magic City Classic held at Bulldog Field on the University of Samford Campus.
The Blazers (11-14) finished 3-1 for the weekend and 1-1 on Sunday after falling to Birmingham-Southern by a score of 3-0 earlier in the day. UAB has now won 10 of its last 12 games in the event. UAB won both of its games against Samford during the weekend and went 1-1 against Birmingham-Southern.
"Amanda Byrne's hit in game two was huge and she has really been seeing the ball well, so overall we put the ball in play but the other teams really played some good defense," said UAB head coach Marla Townsend. "I was real pleased with our defense and pitching and Amanda (Antonovich) really did a good job of keeping us in low-scoring games and did a real good job of getting some ground balls. She let the defense work and that is what I was real proud of."
Freshman left-hander Amanda Antonovich pitched the Blazers to a 2-1 win over Samford on Sunday, as she improved to 3-5 this season and 2-0 in the tournament by going the distance while allowing just one run on five hits. She walked two and struck out five. Antonovich also earned her first-career save on Saturday in the Blazers' 4-3 win over BSC.
The Blazers and Panthers played scoreless ball for the first four and a half innings in the first game before Birmingham-Southern broke through in the fifth by scoring three runs, all with two outs.
Catcher Jennifer Wellborn put the Panthers ahead as she drilled Brittany Hodge's 2-2 offering over the left-centerfield wall with two outs for a 2-0 BSC lead. Shortstop Sloane Laiche made it 3-0 with a single over the outstretched glove of Dusti Roberts at short to score Leslie Roberts. Amanda Antonovich came on in relief of Hodge and got Erin Haggard to line out to left with the bases loaded for the final out.
Hodge lasted 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. She struck out four and walked just one. Kristina Villavicencio picked up the win for the Panthers, improving to 6-4 as she scattered three hits over seven innings of work. Villavicencio walked three and struck out seven.
The Blazers had won nine-straight Magic City Classic games before the loss to the Panthers on Sunday. UAB won four-straight games last season on its home field to win the tournament title.
The Blazers scored first in game two against the Bulldogs, putting two on the board in the bottom of the second inning. First baseman Amanda Byrne lined a two-run double just over Shelley Stanley's glove in right field with two outs for a 2-0 Blazer lead.
Samford cut the Blazers' lead in half in the fourth inning as Jenna Dempski lofted two-out single over Byrne's glove at first base to score Bethany Weisser, who reached on a walk and later moved to second on a passed ball, but Antonovich held the Bulldogs without a run the rest of the game as UAB held on for its eighth one-run victory of the season.
The Blazers next welcome Mississippi State to George Ward Park on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game. UAB is 2-3 all-time against the Bulldogs and will face them again on March 22 in Starkville, Miss. at 6 p.m.
