UAB Falls to In-State Rival South Alabama

Wednesday, February 28

Birmingham / Mary Bowers Field

6:00 PM

UAB

6-11

University of South Alabama

8-8

SOUTH ALABAMA

UAB

UAB Falls to In-State Rival South Alabama

2/28/2018 11:13:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB fell to South Alabama 6-4 Wednesday night at Mary Bowers Field and drops to 6-11 on the year.

The Blazers got on the board first in the second inning when Raina Cooper, who was pinch running for Sarah Crawford who led off the inning with a double, scored on a Rachel Rogers double off the right field wall. Rogers advanced to third but UAB was unable to score her.

South Alabama's Brittani Reid hit a one out triple in the top of the third to right field and after UAB starting pitcher Claire Blount walked the next two batter the Jaguars had the bases loaded with just one out.

Blount was able to strikeout the fifth batter of the inning and had an 0-2 count on the following hitter and looked like she would escape without giving up a run but Katelyn Gruich hit a single up the middle to score Reid from third. Lyric Cabral drew a bases loaded walk which pushed home the second run of the game for South Alabama.

Blount got out of the jam by striking out MC Nichols but the Jags had taken a 2-1 lead.

South Alabama (8-8) added to its lead in the fourth when Haleigh Lowe, who reached earlier on a single, advanced to third on a double from Reid but a bobble in the outfield allowed her to come all the way home as Reid moved to third on the throw to the plate.

Kristian Foster scored Reid from third on a single through the left side and after giving up another single in the next at-bat, Emily Kachel came into pitch for Blount. Kachel struck out the next two batters swinging to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the fourth, Sarah Crawford led off with a single for her second hit of the night and moved to third when Megan Smith hit a double over the center fielders head. South Alabama made a pitching change brining Devin Brown for starter Alexis Reid and Brown proceeded to get Rogers to foul out to the shortstop.

Molli Garcia was able to score Crawford when she hit a grounder to the second baseman and UAB cut the Jags lead down to a two run lead.

Reid again hurt the Blazers in the top of the sixth as she hit a home run to left field and extend the Jaguars lead to 5-2. However, it was Crawford again who spurred the Blazers response in the bottom half of the inning hitting her second double of the night to center field.

UAB loaded the bases with just one out when Natalie Erwin hit into a fielder's choice scoring Crawford from third but Garcia who had reached on a single in the previous at-bat was put out at second.

Leading UAB 5-3, South Alabama had a little two out magic working and added its sixth run of the game in the top of the seventh.

The Green and Gold wouldn't go away quietly though as with two out in the bottom of the seventh the Blazers had the bases loaded. Rogers drew a walk on five pitches and UAB again cut the Jags lead down to two runs but a fly out would end the scoring chance and the game.

Blount suffered the loss and is now 0-6 on the year. She threw 3.1 innings giving up four runs on seven hits, walked five and struck out three. Kachel had 3.2 innings of work against South Alabama and allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits while walking just one and tallying four strikeouts.

Brown picked up the win for the Jaguars and improves to 6-4 on the year.

Sarah Crawford was a spark plug for the Blazers all night as she went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a single and two runs scored.

Up Next
UAB will drive right back into action Thursday, March 1 against Louisville at the Red and Black Classic hosted by Louisville. The Blazers will play one game Thursday followed by two on Friday and two on Saturday.

By the end of the tournament UAB will have played 12 games in a nine-day span dating back to last Friday, Feb. 23.