The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Softball Wins 2003 Samford Fall Tournament
10/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Oct. 22, 2003
PELHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team earned its second tournament title of the 2003 fall season as the Blazers used an unblemished 5-0 record to take first place at the Samford Fall Tournament held at the Pelham Sports Complex. UAB earned victories over Shelton State, Samford, North Alabama, Jacksonville State and Southern Union in the two-day competition.
UAB registered an undefeated 8-0 record during its fall season.
On Oct. 4, the Blazers cruised to an undefeated 3-0 record at George Ward Park en route to the championship title of the 2003 UAB Fall Tournament. The team followed that performance with five clutch wins at the Samford Fall Tournament. Two victories came via the eight-run rule, while two more were won dramatically in extra innings.
Against Shelton State, UAB rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a vital 3-2 victory in eight innings at the Pelham Sports Complex.
UAB used a two-out rally against Shelton State to even the score at 2-2. In the eighth inning, the Blazers used aggressive baserunning by junior Sara Christophel to win the game. Christophel started the inning at second base due to the international tie-breaker rule, stole third base and scored the game-winning run on an errant throw on the play. The Birmingham native finished the two-day competition with a .462 batting average, three RBI, a double and a triple.
The Blazers pulled together to win another close game in their second competition of the weekend as they faced off against host Samford.
Against Samford, UAB used timely hitting combined with errors and walks to earn a 3-2 victory. In the seventh inning, the Blazers' Carrie Christophel and Amanda Byrne each earned walks to set the table for junior shortstop Dusti Roberts. With the game on the line, Roberts drove a ball deep into left field for what would prove to be the game-winning RBI.
"I am very proud of this team for pulling together and having faith in themselves and their teammates," said UAB head coach Marla Townsend. "They got the job done with base hits in some clutch situations and never faltered."
In the third game of the 2003 Samford Fall Tournament, UAB's bats came alive as the Blazers rallied for six runs on five hits and one walk against North Alabama.
UAB moved to a 3-0 record in the two-day tournament by posting a lopsided 9-1 victory over North Alabama. In the contest, the Blazers used top hitting performances from Chelsea McCall, Kris Lara, Amanda Ellis, Amanda Byrne, Lindsay Stanley and Andrea Pierson. Ellis, UAB's senior catcher from Mobile, Ala., finished the weekend with a .400 batting average, a double, a triple and a team-high seven RBI.
Against Jacksonville State in the fourth game of the tournament, the Blazers used a 12-strikeout performance from junior Erica Mascarenas and a three-hit outing from Sara Christophel to post a 6-3 extra-inning victory.
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the eighth inning, UAB jumped out to a 3-2 lead by scoring a run in the top-half of the frame, but then Jacksonville State rallied to tie the score at 3-3 and send the game to another inning.
The contest remained tied until the Blazers scored on a clutch two-out single by Chelsea McCall, followed by Sara Christophel's third hit of the game to bring the score to 6-3. McCall, a sophomore outfielder from Gresham, Ore., finished the weekend with a .364 batting average and three RBI.
In the bottom half of the ninth inning, Mascarenas nailed down the victory by striking out three straight Jacksonville State batters. Mascarenas, the Blazers' native of Bloomfield, N.M., finished the weekend with 26 strikeouts and only one walk in 15.2 innings pitched.
"Erica Mascarenas really proved herself this weekend," Townsend said. "She did an outstanding job and it's amazing that she recorded 26 K's in only 15.2 innings pitched."
Against Southern Union in the Blazers' final game of the tournament, UAB's freshman pitcher, Brittany Hodge, hurled a complete game no-hitter and added one strikeout and three walks. On the weekend, Hodge only allowed four hits in 10 innings pitched. She finished with four strikeouts and gave up one run.
UAB peppered the ball around the field against Southern Union and had every position in the lineup score at least one run in the lopsided 18-0 victory. Stanley, the Blazers' freshman from Pinson, Ala., went 2-for-3, while Allison Davis also finished 2-for-3 and Pierson went a perfect 2-for-2.
Freshman Nicole Whitlock led the way for the Blazers versus Southern Union as she finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBI. On the weekend, the Morris, Ala. native compiled a .417 batting average, two RBI and a double.
"We came across every situation possible, both offensively and defensive and we were successful," Townsend said. "Our defense was very solid. Plus, freshman Brittany Hodge threw a no-hitter. I am very proud of her as well as our slap-hitters who did a great job of putting the ball in play after reading the defense."
"We're using a new system and three of our girls are new to the left side. They've all done a great job of making it work and almost all of them are actually seeing the system work with base hits."
The 2003 Samford Fall Tournament was UAB's final competition of the fall season and the Blazers will next be in action on Feb. 5, at the Paradise Classic hosted by the University of Hawaii. While in Honolulu, Hawaii, for the four-day competition, UAB will face off against BYU, Hawaii, Oregon State, Saint Mary's and Tennessee.
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2003 Samford Fall Tournament
Pelham Sports Complex
Saturday, Oct. 18
UAB def. Shelton State, 3-2 (8 inn.)
UAB def. Samford, 3-2
UAB def. North Alabama, 9-1 (5 inn.)
Sunday, Oct. 19
UAB def. Jacksonville State, 6-3 (9 inn.)
UAB def. Southern Union, 18-0 (5 inn.)
