The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Louisville
Softball Earns C-USA Split Against Third-Place Louisville
3/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 27, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB softball team fought its way to a doubleheader split against the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday as the Blazers rallied for a 2-1 come-from-behind victory in the first game and then squandered a 3-0 lead in the second contest to lose 4-3.
"I'm very proud of the way that we played today," said UAB head coach Marla Townsend. "I think that we made some major strides in both our offense and our defense, and we were able to take advantage of some first-pitch strikes. We have been struggling on hitting them in the past, but today we were able to string together some solid hits."
UAB (16-19, 3-5 Conference USA) scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Louisville (23-10, 6-2 C-USA) in Saturday's first game of the doubleheader.
With one out and the bases loaded, the Blazers' Chelea McCall lined a single to left center field to score both Lindsay Stanley and Dusti Roberts. The critical two-RBI hit gave UAB the 2-1 victory and snapped the Blazers' three-game losing streak against conference opponents.
Freshman Nicole Whitlock started the seventh-inning rally with a single to left field.
Stanley, UAB's speedster from Pinson, then pinch ran for Whitlock and advanced to second base when Roberts drew a key walk from Louisville's Kady Garrick. The Blazers' Sara Christophel then forced a walk to load the bases and McCall came through with the game-winning single.
"Our players never give up in a game and they battle hard for all seven innings," Townsend said. "We've been in pretty much every game this season and we are always in a position to win with one swing of the bat. Today, Chelsea (McCall) came up with the huge hit and we were able to win the game."
Tara Higashino, UAB's senior pitcher from Elk Grove, Calif., turned in a stellar performance in the first game as the right-hander only allowed five Louisville hits and one earned run. With the win, Higashino improved to 8-10 on the season.
In the second game of Saturday's C-USA doubleheader, UAB jumped out to an imposing 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Sara Christophel led off the frame with a single up the middle and then easily stole second base off of the Cardinals' starting pitcher, Catherine Bishop. McCall, the Blazers' sophomore left fielder from Gresham, Ore., then singled to center field and Beth Mullins reached on a throwing error by Bishop. On Bishop's error, Christophel scored from third base to give UAB a 1-0 lead.
The Blazers' Holly Krzan then walked and senior Amanda Ellis crushed a deep single off of the wall in left field. McCall scored on the play to give UAB a 2-0 lead.
With no outs and the bases loaded, Louisville's Aja Sherman moved from first base to pitcher and proceeded to strike out the next two Blazer batters. Whitlock, UAB's highly-touted freshman from Morris, then drew a walk to score Mullins from third base to make the score 3-0.
Louisville rebounded from the early 3-0 deficit and notched for a pair of runs in both the third and sixth innings.
In the sixth frame, the Cardinals' Sherman helped her own cause on the mound as she ripped a double down the left field line to score two runs. With the crucial hit, Louisville took a 4-3 advantage in the game and was able to hold on for the victory.
"In the second game, we jumped on them with three runs in the first inning, but we let them come back with four unanswered runs," said Townsend. "We have to do a better job of manufacturing some runs, especially when we have runners in scoring position. We have to be able to score those runs, but all in all I'm very pleased with how we played today."
UAB owns a 3-13 all-time record against the Cardinals and has never defeated them twice in a three-game series. Last season, the Cardinals took two of the three games played at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
"We really want to take this series and hopefully we'll come in here tomorrow and get a big win," Townsend said.
The UAB softball team will close out its three-game series against the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday at 1 p.m., here at George Ward Park Field No. 6. Admission is free to all UAB home softball games.
Game 1: UAB (16-18, 3-4) def. Louisville (22-10, 5-2), 2-1
UL 000 001 0 - 1 5 0
UAB 000 000 2 - 2 5 1
Top Hitters: UAB, Sara Christophel 1-2, Beth Mullins 1-3, Holly Krzan 1-3, Nicole Whitlock 1-3, Chelsea McCall 1-4, 2 RBI; UL, Courtney Moore 1-2 RBI, Aja Sherman 1-2, Shannon Nord 1-2, R.
WP: Tara Higashino (8-10), LP: Kady Garrick (12-4).
Game 2: Louisville (23-10, 6-2) def. UAB (16-19, 3-5), 4-3
UL 002 002 0 - 4 6 1
UAB 300 000 0 - 3 4 1
Top Hitters: UAB, Sara Christophel 2-4 R, Amanda Ellis 1-3 RBI, Chelsea McCall 1-4 R; UL, Michelle Vasquez 3-3 R, Aja Sherman 1-3 2 RBI, Shannon Nord 1-3 R.
WP: Aja Sherman (5-2), LP: Erica Mascarenas (6-8).
