UAB Drops Game Two but Ties in the Series Finale

Saturday, March 10

Birmingham / Mary Bowers Field

12:30 PM

UAB

8-18, 1-1

Marshall University

9-13, 1-1

MARSHALL

UAB

UAB Drops Game Two but Ties in the Series Finale

3/11/2018 7:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It was an interesting Sunday afternoon at Mary Bowers Field as the Blazers finished a postponed Game Two and then ended their series finale with Marshall in a tie.

After the end of Game Two on Sunday and before the start of Game Three, UAB and Marshall agreed to a drop dead time for the series finale which was set at 4:30 p.m. CT. The need for a drop dead time was so that Marshall could return, by bus, back to Huntington, W. Va.

That drop dead time would negatively affect UAB as it had the bases loaded with two-out in a 1-1 game when 4:30 p.m. struck. The umpires called the game immediately and left the Blazers leading hitter, Destini England, standing in the batter's box.

The Green and Gold loaded the bases with two outs in the inning thanks to Molli Garcia coming up with a clutch two-out double to left. Katlyn Sides hit a shallow single to left field and put runners on the corners. The Hurd intentionally walked Natalie Erwin as the 4:30 p.m. deadline was just two minutes away.

Marshall then decided to make a pitching change and before England and the new pitcher could even face each other the game was called off and ended in a 1-1 tie.

It is UAB's first ever tie in program history.

Picking up Game Two action in the top half of the fifth inning, Marshall scored its second run of the fifth to take a 5-4 lead over UAB. The Thundering Herd scored its first run of the fifth inning on Saturday before the rains came and postponed the rest of the game until Sunday.

Marshall (9-13-1) held the 5-4 lead until the bottom half of the seventh when the Green and Gold rallied to force extra innings. Megan Smith drew a leadoff walk and Garcia laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Smith to second. Sides hit a ground out to the second baseman but that too was good enough to advance Smith to third.

Down to its final out of the game, Erwin took a 2-2 pitch and laced it up the middle for a game-tying RBI single.

UAB (8-18-1) had Katelyn Prater reach base on an error and had runners on first and second with two-out but were unable to score them as a lineout to the third baseman ended the inning.

The Herd struck back in the eighth scoring four runs on four hits and had the added benefit of two UAB errors to take a 9-5 lead. In the bottom of the eighth with one out, Rachel Rogers hit her first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field and brought the score to 9-6.

The Blazers grounded out in the next two at-bats to end the game.

Marshall scored right out of the gate in the first inning on Saturday with a leadoff single and then stole second and third before driving in a run on a bunt single. Back-to-back singles following the bunt would score another run and the Hurd took a 2-0 lead.

A single and a walk in the bottom half of the first for UAB put the wheels in motion as it would score three times and take over the lead. Sarah Crawford drew a walk to load the bases with one out and Smith would also walk to score the Blazers first run.

Another walk and UAB tied the game as Garcia earned the free pass to first. Marshall made a pitching change and Sides hit into a fielder's choice and the Hurd got the out at the plate to keep the score tied at 2-2.

However, the bases were still full and Erwin drew a walk and UAB took the lead 3-2. The fun continued in the third as a sac fly to center pushed across another run for Marshall and they tied the game up again at 3-3.

UAB struck out and grounded out to begin the bottom of the third but Garcia came through with a double to right center field to get the Blazers going again. Sides reached on an error in the next at-bat as Garcia moved to third. Erwin followed them up with a single to center to score Garcia from third and UAB once again took the lead 4-3.

Marshall used a leadoff double and back-to-back walks to load the bases with nobody out as the rain on Saturday began to pour. A sacrifice fly to left field drove home a run as the Thundering again tied the game up 4-4. UAB induced a pop up in foul territory for the second out of the fifth before the rain finally forced the tarp to come out and the game to be postponed until Sunday.

Up Next
UAB will continue conference play this weekend as it will travel to El Paso, Texas to square off with UTEP. The first two games of the series will be played on Saturday, March 17 with the final game of the series coming on Sunday, March 18.