Softball Captures Two Shutouts on First Day of Blazer Classic

Friday, February 18

Mary Bowers Field

3:00 PM

UAB

2-5

Toledo

2-5

Toledo

UAB

Photo by: Ted Feeley

Softball Captures Two Shutouts on First Day of Blazer Classic

2/18/2022 10:15:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BIRMINGHAM- Softball did not allow any runs today, and won both of their games on the first day of the 2022 Blazer Classic. The entire UAB squad had a strong outing from home plate to take down Toledo, and Makenna Pierce earned her first pitching victory of the season with a near-perfect game against North Dakota. The Blazers (3-5) began the day by run-ruling Toledo 8-0, and outlasted North Dakota 1-0 later in the evening.

"Great effort by our players." Said Coach Joe Guthrie. "We have to rest up and be prepared for a better effort tomorrow."

UAB 8, Toledo 0

The Blazers began the afternoon with some powerful hits, that led to Lilly Crowe, Tyler Armistead, Faith Hegh, and Lindsey Smith all crossing home plate in the bottom of the 1^st. With Lauren Brock on base in the 2^nd inning, Lilly Crowe slammed a home run to left center field to put the Blazers up 6-0. Reese Lowery scored via an Alyssa Aguilar single later in that same inning, and for the next 3 ½ innings, the game was locked at 7-0. In the bottom of the 5^th, Aguilar scored thanks to a single from Lauren Brock, and the game ended 8-0 in favor of the Blazers after five innings. Sarah Cespedes (2-1) was credited with the pitching victory, collecting two strikeouts over three innings of work.

UAB 1, North Dakota 0

UAB's first game of the day saw the Blazers win thanks to an impressive batting display, but Friday's second game went in favor of UAB thanks to their pitching and fielding. Neither team was able to open up the scoring for the first three innings, with scoring opportunities few and far between. The Blazers had a runner on base with one out in the 2^ndinning, but a double play by North Dakota (3-4) kept things knotted at zero. In the bottom of the 4^th inning, with one out on the board, Tyler Armistead stepped up to the plate and nailed a home run to left field that proved to be the game winning play. Another critical play occurred in the top of the 5^th inning. The Fighting Hawks had two runners on base, with a chance to tie or take the lead, when Makenna Pierce collected her sixth strikeout of the day to end the inning. Innings six and seven saw the Fighting Hawks push hard to get on the board, but no scoring occurred thanks to the diligence of the Blazer fielding, and the superb pitching of Makenna Pierce, who ended the game on her eighth strikeout.

Seven different Blazers scored runs versus Toledo. Makenna Pierce pitched the entirety of the second game, allowing no runs, two hits, and racking up eight strikeouts.

Blazer softball will be on display again tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in a rematch versus North Dakota, and a game against Murray State at 5:30 p.m.

Softball season tickets are available by purchasing the 2021-22 Gold Card for $65 here. The 2021-22 Gold Card will get you access to all home events for Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer, Volleyball, Women's Basketball, Softball, and Baseball (Regions Field & Young Memorial). This card is not valid for Conference USA or NCAA Championship events.

UAB Softball single-game are also on sale and can be purchased by clicking here or calling the UAB Athletics Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1.

For more information on the UAB softball team, follow @UAB_SB on Twitter and Instagram.