The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Alabama
UAB Falls to No. 9 Alabama in Extras
2/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The UAB softball team rallied but eventually fell to No. 9 Alabama, 5-4, in extra innings Tuesday night at Mary Bowers Field in front of 807 fans.
“Anytime you play one of the top teams in the country you’re going to have nerves, so I was extremely proud of the way the team settled down and started playing Blazer softball,” head coach Marla Townsend said. “If we play the best that we can play, we can compete with anyone in the country and we showed that tonight.”
UAB (4-10, 0-0) finished the night with four runs on seven hits and committed three errors. Destini England, Madison Millsaps and Amy Waters all had multi-hit games while Molli Garcia contributed with a single of her own.
The Blazers first run came in the bottom of the first inning when England stole home, catching the Alabama defense off guard and tying the game at one.
Two more UAB runs were plated in the third inning when Millsaps singled up the middle to bring England and Lizzie Ryan around for the score and to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead.
Alabama took a one-run lead in the fourth inning before the Blazers battled back in the fifth to tie the game at four. England hit her third triple of her career to center before Danii Fernandez skied a sacrifice fly to the same spot to bring her home.
No runs were plated in the fifth and sixth innings and UAB battled in the bottom of the eighth when Millsaps and Garcia both singled, but the Blazers couldn’t capitalize and the Crimson Tide clinched the 5-4 win.
Alabama (14-2, 0-0) got things started in the first with a single run scored on a fielding error by the Blazers.
The Crimson Tide struck again in the fourth inning when a sacrifice fly and a two-run home run put Alabama back in the driver’s seat.
The final run of the game came in the top of the eighth inning when Sydney Booker drew a two-out bases loaded walk to score Bailey Hemphill.
Claire Blount (1-3) suffered the loss for the Blazers in the circle. She gave up five runs and recorded four strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Alexis Osorio (7-1) captured the win for the Crimson Tide. She came in relief and tallied nine strikeouts and didn’t give up any runs in 4.0 innings pitched.
UAB will hit the road again and travel to Kennesaw, Ga., to participate in the Bailey Memorial Tournament March 3-5. Teams participating are UNC Greensboro, Dartmouth, Akron and Kennesaw State.
For more information on UAB Athletics, visit UABsports.com. Fans can find UAB softball on Twitter and Instagram at @UAB_SB.
