Tulsa Softball Splits Doubleheader With UAB

Both games were decided by one, and TU won the first but lost the second.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:21 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa Softball Splits Doubleheader With UAB

Originally Published: Apr 22, 2011 9:24 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa softball team split a doubleheader with UAB Friday, winning the first game 2-1 and losing the second 7-6.

As the score would indicate, the first game was a pitchers’ duel. The starting pitchers combined to allow only seven hits, and both teams only registered runs in one inning.

The runs for Tulsa came thanks to a two-run home run by Shelby Blanton in the top of the fourth. The Golden Hurricane recorded only four other hits in the rest of the game.

TU starter Aimee Creger carried a shutout into the seventh inning, but gave up a run in the final frame to cut the lead to one. But she recovered after that and finished a complete game for her 18th win of the season.

The second game of the day was on the opposite end of the spectrum. The teams combined for 22 hits and 13 runs, and Tulsa nearly mounted a late comeback to eliminate the deficit.

UAB started the scoring in the second inning with an RBI double from Lauren Webster, and then added to the lead with two more runs in the fourth.

Tulsa got on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Aimee Creger to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Blazers mounted their biggest inning of the day in the fifth.

UAB nearly batted around in the inning, and at one point had a string of four consecutive hits. The Blazers ended up scoring four runs in the inning to take a 7-1 lead, but the Golden Hurricane did not go quietly.

TU’s first three batters reached base in the fifth to quickly load the bases, and Jill Barrett drove one of them home with a single in the next at-bat. Samantha Cobb followed with a sacrifice fly that drove in one, and then a second run came in to score thanks to a throwing error to cut the lead to 7-4.

That scored carried into the final inning, when Barrett launched a two-run homer to bring the Hurricane within one run. After two pop-ups, Creger worked a walk to put the tying run on base. But Lacey Middlebrooks flew out to right field for the final out to end the game.

Middlebrooks also allowed the bulk of UAB’s runs. She entered in the fourth inning and allowed six runs – two of them unearned – on 10 hits. But Jordan Kinard was credited with a loss despite holding the Blazers to just one run on three hits.

The loss in Game 2 ended a four-game winning streak for Tulsa during which it held its opponent to two or less runs in every game. The two teams will conclude their three-game series at 11 a.m. Saturday.