The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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UTEP
UAB Softball Sweeps UTEP To Control the West
4/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Final Stats
Game One Box (PDF) | Game Two Box (PDF)
EL PASO, Texas – The UAB softball team slugged past UTEP to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader at Helen of Troy Field and take over the top spot in the Conference USA Western Division standings.
UAB (21-24, 11-6) used a five-run fifth inning to cruise to a 10-3 victory over the Miners in the series opener to earn the Blazers’ 10th Conference USA victory of the season.
UTEP (19-27, 10-7) took a 3-0 lead after the first inning, but the Blazers battled back to secure the Saturday sweep, 9-6.
“We executed our keys to success,” head coach Marla Townsend said. “I was proud of how relentless we were. The first inning didn’t go our way in game two, but we moved on and answered with four runs in the second inning. Our hitters executed with quality at-bats that we were striving for. Our pitching staff minimized freebies to just one walk in each game. It took a staff today. I am extremely proud of them. Our defense was solid, but we came out with key hits and quality RBIs. We knew it was going to be a tough environment. UTEP is a quality team, and they do not quit. I was proud of the way we stayed on it.”
Senior Caitlin Attfield led UAB at the plate going 4-for-6 with four walks and scoring five runs in Saturday’s action. Junior JoJo Fallen went 3-for-8 with three doubles at the plate and drove home a team-leading six RBIs.
All four members of the Blazer pitching staff contributed to Saturday’s doubleheader as freshman Tori Perkins earned her first career victory in game two of the series.
Game One (W, 10-3)
Attfield led off for the Blazer half of the first inning drawing a walk and moved into scoring position after a perfect sacrifice bunt from Fallen. Junior Mary Warren smacked a two-out RBI single to center field to extend her reached-base streak to 20 consecutive games and put the Blazers on top, 1-0.
The Miners answered in the bottom of the first as Courtney Clayton capitalized on a one-out walk by driving an RBI double to right center to lock the game at 1-1.
Junior Cara Goodwin retired nine consecutive Miners before allowing back-to-back, one-out singles to right field in the bottom of the fourth, but battled out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to bring her total to five on the day.
Junior Amy Waters led off the top of the fifth with a single to center field and moved into scoring position after a sacrifice bunt from junior Danii Fernandez. Attfield drew her second walk of the game to put two runners on with one out for Fallen.
The left fielder answered with a double to right field to score Waters and put the Blazers back on top, 2-1. Senior Sara Beth Williamson drove home two runs with a single to right center to extend the Blazer lead to 4-1.
Warren knocked her second hit of the contest with a single through the left side to put runners on the corners before senior Kelly Britt delivered a two-out single to center field to score Williamson and pinch runner freshman Lizzie Ryan to cap the five-run fifth inning and push the lead to 6-1.
UAB loaded the bases to lead off the top of the sixth as Waters reached on a Miner throwing error, Fernandez reached safely on a fielder’s choice, and Attfield singled to shallow center field. Fallen drove in a run taking a bases-loaded hit by pitch.
UTEP turned a double play to put two outs on the scoreboard and leave runners at second and third before Warren answered with an RBI single to left center field to extend UAB’s lead to 8-1.
With runners on the corners, Ashley Johnson earned her 15th two-out RBI as she singled to right center to score Fallen and cap UAB’s three-run sixth inning.
Clayton sent a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth to slice UAB’s lead to 9-2 to force seven innings at Helen of Troy Field.
Waters knocked a one-out triple to right field for the second Blazer triple of the contest and came around to score on Fernandez’s RBI single to left field to push UAB’s lead back up to eight runs, 10-2.
Cortney Smith cut UAB’s lead to 10-3 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out, solo home run to left field; but Goodwin and the Blazers retired the side to secure the series-opening victory.
Goodwin earned the complete-game victory as she allowed just three runs off five hits and one walk. The Cullman, Alabama, native struck out eight batters over seven innings.
Four Blazers drove home multiple RBIs led by Warren’s 3-for-4 outing. Britt also drove in two RBIs after going 2-for-4 at the plate. Attfield reached base four times after going 2-for-3 with two walks and scoring three runs.
Game Two (W, 9-6)
Attfield led off the game with a walk, but Danielle Pearson responded by striking out the side. The Miners put two runners on with two outs after a couple of singles before Pearson helped herself with a double to left field to take the first lead of the game, 1-0.
After the Miners loaded the bases after a hit by pitch issued by Megan Smith, Cortney Smith singled through the right side to score two runs to extend UTEP’s lead to 3-0.
The Miners loaded the bases back up after a walk from Smith to forcing a UAB pitching change as junior Madison Hir entered in relief for UAB to retire the side.
In the top of the second, Britt cut into UTEP’s lead to 3-1 as the senior homered for just the second time this season with a solo shot to left field. A Miner fielding error allowed Waters to reach second, and Fernandez made UTEP pay with a double to center field to slice UTEP’s lead to 3-2.
After an infield single from Attfield, Fallen doubled to right field to drive home two and put UAB on top, 4-3.
UTEP responded in the bottom of the second as Kaitlin Ryder sent a solo home run down the left field line to lock the game up at 4-4.
Warren extended her reached-base streak to 21 consecutive games as the designated player led off the third with a solo home run to center field for her team-leading ninth homer of the season to put the Blazers back on top, 5-4.
The Blazers followed with a double from Johnson and single from Britt before freshman Hannah Lee singled to right field to score Johnson. Waters knocked UAB’s fifth consecutive hit of the third inning with a single to right field to score Britt, extending the Blazer lead to 7-4.
Hope Moreno led off the bottom of the third with a solo homer to left field to cut UAB’s lead down to 7-5. After back-to-back, one-out singles in the bottom of the fourth, UTEP cut the Blazer lead down to one, 7-6, as a UAB error allowed a run to score.
Both squads traded two scoreless innings before Lee drew a walk to lead off the seventh inning. Attfield knocked an infield single to put runners on the corners with two outs before Fallen delivered a two-out double to clinch UAB’s 9-6 victory.
Smith gave up three runs off four hits and one walk over 0.2 innings of work. Hir pitched 2.1 innings of relief, allowing two runs off four hits. Perkins earned her first career victory as she pitched 4.0 innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run off four hits.
Fallen closed game two going 2-for-5 with a team-leading four RBIs. Attfield reached base in all five plate appearances as she went 2-for-3 with two walks and scored two runs.
UAB goes for its first conference series sweep tomorrow. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
For more information on the UAB softball team, follow the Blazers on Twitter (@UABSoftball). For more on all Blazer sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of UAB Athletics on Twitter (@UABAthletics), on Facebook (Facebook.com/UAB.Blazers), on Instagram (@uabathletics) or on Snapchat (@uabathletics).
