BIRMINGHAM – UAB softball dropped its final game of the Blazer Classic 7-4 to 11th-ranked Louisiana on Sunday afternoon at Mary Bowers Field.
UAB (8-7) rallied in the fifth inning to take the lead but the No. 11 Ragin’ Cajuns (11-3) bats were too powerful for the Blazers to overcome.
Louisiana’s Summer Ellyson stayed a perfect 7-0 in the circle on the season, earning the win in relief of Megan Kleist.
The Blazers struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Jenna Olszewski scored from second on a throwing error.
UAB would hold the lead until the third inning when Louisiana scored twice, once on an errant throw and again on a hard-hit ball down the first base line, 2-1.
Louisiana’s Melissa Mayeux doubled off the left field wall to leadoff the fifth inning forcing a pitching change for UAB as Amy Woodham came in in relief for freshman, Jaycee Cook. The Cajuns singled up the middle to bring in a third run increasing the lead to 3-1.
The Blazers answered back in the bottom half of the inning as KK Crocker got on board with a leadoff base hit. A walk to Gabi Apiag put runners on first and second for Dylinn Stancil who singled up the middle, scoring Crocker from second. With one out and runners on second and third Analyse Petree blooped a single over the head of the short stop plating Stancil to put UAB up 4-3 after five.
However, the Cajuns tacked on two more runs in the top half of the sixth forcing another UAB pitching change as Sarah Cespedes took the mound. The Blazers went down in order in the bottom half of the sixth and a two-run home run by Sarah Hudek in the top of the seventh sealed the 7-4 win for the Cajuns.
Woodham was credited for the loss despite just one inning of work moving to 3-3 on the season. Cook got the start in the circle and lasted four innings giving up three runs, only one earned, off four hits while striking out one. Woodham and Cespedes each gave up two earned runs in their combined three innings pitched.
Natalie Erwin went two-for-three at the plate with a pair of singles. Stancil, Petree and Sierra Frazier each recorded an RBI for the Blazers.
“I was extremely proud of how we competed this weekend,” said head coach Jimmy Kolaitis. “You want to win every game, but sometimes we don’t get the result we want. The effort was tremendous, and we battled with three really good teams. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw some of them in Oklahoma City in June. This weekend gave us plenty of areas that we need to work on and improve. One thing I can promise is that we will battle and compete with anyone on the field.”
UAB will play its fourth ranked opponent of the season on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. when the Blazers host No. 10 Alabama at Mary Bowers Field.
Softball season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2019-20 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all UAB men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
For more information on the UAB softball team, follow @UAB_SB on Twitter and Instagram.
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