The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Sunday, April 15
Birmingham / Mary Bowers Field
1:00 PM
UAB
18-26-1, 10-4-1
4
vs
3
Western Kentucky University
24-18, 7-8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
R
H
E
WKU
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
8
3
UAB
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
4
12
3
UAB Walks-Off Again to Sweep the Series Against WKU
4/14/2018 6:08:00 PM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sarah Crawford stepped into the box with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the 11th inning and hit UAB's second walk-off of the weekend as the Blazers swept WKU and won game three, 4-3, on Saturday at Mary Bowers Field.
The game winner was set up after Natalie Erwin drew a lead-off walk and Analyse Petree singled to center before Rachel Rogers hit a fielder's choice to the WKU third baseman and reached safely.
That brought Crawford to the plate, who hit a towering sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Erwin to tag up at third and slide head first into the plate, beating the throw and clinching the Blazer's first conference series sweep of the season.
Throughout the series, UAB was forced to come from behind to win in all three games.
The rally started in the bottom of the sixth as the Green and Gold trailed 3-0 with the hero of game, Rogers, leading off. She singled to center before Crawford smacked an infield single and Garcia reached on an error that allowed Rogers to come around and score from second.
A sacrifice fly from Megan Smith plated Crawford and Destini England rounded things out with a two-out RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.
UAB (18-26-1, 10-4-1 C-USA) put the pressure on in the bottom half of the seventh with runners in scoring position and nobody out, but the Hilltopper defense stood strong to force extra innings.
Both teams had their chances to score in the extra frames, but solid defense and timely pitching kept things even until UAB broke through in the 11th.
Megan Smith got the start for the Blazers, throwing six innings and allowing three runs, one of which was earned, on five hits. The Pisgah, Ala. native struck out six and walked three. Claire Blount (4-12) entered the circle in relief, tossing five shutout innings and frustrating the WKU hitters.
The lefty allowed just three hits, one walk and struck out five to pick up the win.
WKU (24-18, 7-8) started Shelby Nunn in the circle, who saw 5.1 innings of work, giving up three unearned runs on seven hits. Kelsey Aikey threw five innings on the day, walking five. She took the loss for the Hilltoppers.
Up Next
UAB will play host to Alabama State on Thursday, April 19, in its final mid-week home game of the season.
The game winner was set up after Natalie Erwin drew a lead-off walk and Analyse Petree singled to center before Rachel Rogers hit a fielder's choice to the WKU third baseman and reached safely.
That brought Crawford to the plate, who hit a towering sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Erwin to tag up at third and slide head first into the plate, beating the throw and clinching the Blazer's first conference series sweep of the season.
Throughout the series, UAB was forced to come from behind to win in all three games.
The rally started in the bottom of the sixth as the Green and Gold trailed 3-0 with the hero of game, Rogers, leading off. She singled to center before Crawford smacked an infield single and Garcia reached on an error that allowed Rogers to come around and score from second.
A sacrifice fly from Megan Smith plated Crawford and Destini England rounded things out with a two-out RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.
UAB (18-26-1, 10-4-1 C-USA) put the pressure on in the bottom half of the seventh with runners in scoring position and nobody out, but the Hilltopper defense stood strong to force extra innings.
Both teams had their chances to score in the extra frames, but solid defense and timely pitching kept things even until UAB broke through in the 11th.
Megan Smith got the start for the Blazers, throwing six innings and allowing three runs, one of which was earned, on five hits. The Pisgah, Ala. native struck out six and walked three. Claire Blount (4-12) entered the circle in relief, tossing five shutout innings and frustrating the WKU hitters.
The lefty allowed just three hits, one walk and struck out five to pick up the win.
WKU (24-18, 7-8) started Shelby Nunn in the circle, who saw 5.1 innings of work, giving up three unearned runs on seven hits. Kelsey Aikey threw five innings on the day, walking five. She took the loss for the Hilltoppers.
Up Next
UAB will play host to Alabama State on Thursday, April 19, in its final mid-week home game of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Blount, Claire (4-12)
L: AIKEY, Kelsey (10-6)
Batting:
2B: TOWERS, Haylee 1
3B: THOMAS, Jordan 1
RBI: TOWERS, Haylee 1
SH: VAUGHN, Brittany 2
Base Running:
RUNS: VORBRINK, Jordan 1 ; CARTER, Paige 2
SB: THOMAS, Jordan 1 ; VORBRINK, Jordan 1
CS: BOWLDS, Maddie 1
HBP: SMITH, Kendall 1
Batting:
2B: Crawford, Sarah 1
RBI: England, Destini 1 ; Crawford, Sarah 1 ; Smith, Megan 1
SF: Crawford, Sarah 1 ; Smith, Megan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Erwin, Natalie 1 ; Rogers, Rachel 1 ; Crawford, Sarah 1 ; Hayes, Makayla 1
CS: England, Destini 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
6
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
UTL
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