Birmingham, Ala. – A flurry of runs early proved to be the difference to open the Green & Gold Classic for UAB softball on Friday afternoon. The Blazers took a pair of games to sweep Longwood in a doubleheader, 8-3 and 7-3.
Lilly Crowe had the big swing for UAB (9-9) in the first game with a three-run home run. Lindsey Smith and Sophie Page combined to drive in four of UAB's seven runs in game two.
For Longwood,
Jaden Pone had a pair of hits on the day, and
Lauren Fox drove in two runs in the second game, but the early runs in each game proved to be the difference.
"We showed fight in both games as a team," said Longwood head coach
Dr. Megan Brown. "It was good to see young women taking advantage of opportunities when they come. We are always stronger together, and it is in times like these that we have to pull together. We are definitely finding out what we are made of, the good news is this is the time of year to do that. Ready for two tough games tomorrow."
The Lancers have three games remaining in Birmingham this weekend. They play Harvard on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. before taking on UAB for a third time in the afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, the team closes the weekend against Harvard at 10 a.m.
Game One: UAB 8, Longwood 3
In the first inning, Pone scorched a triple to left field on a 2-2 count for her first time at bat for Longwood.
Alexis Wayland followed Pone's lead with a single to third base to score Pone to get the early lead.
UAB got rolling in the second inning. In the bottom of the second, Faith Hegh roped a triple to left field to score two and take the lead over the Lancers. In the bottom of the third, Crowe swatted her home run, a three-run blast that extended the High Point lead to 5-1.
In the fourth inning, Lauren Brock capitalized on a Lancer error with a two-run single, and a sac fly made it 8-1.
The Lancers scratched back a pair of runs in the fifth by capitalizing on an error at second by UAB that allowed both Pone and
Lauren Fox to score.
Makenna Pierce had the start in the circle for UAB and earned the win.
Sydney Backstrom (4-5) took the loss after starting the game in the circle for Longwood. She went three innings and gave up five runs before giving way to
Reagan Kanagawa. Kanagawa closed the final three innings.
Game Two: UAB 7, Longwood 3
In the second game of the day, UAB loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Crowe drew a bases-loaded walk, and a pair of errors plated two more. Smith hit the first of two sacrifice flies to extend the lead to 5-0.
Smith added another sac fly in the third before Page poked an RBI single to make it 7-0.
The Lancers battled back in the fifth.
Sydney Guess hit an RBI choice to get Longwood on the board, and Fox cranked her double to left-center one batter late to cut the lead to 7-3.
Olivia Valpak came on in relief of starter Sarah Cespedes (5-1) though, and she retired seven straight to close the game for UAB. Cespedes struck out three in 4.2 innings of work while giving up three runs on four hits.
Reagan Kanagawa (1-5) took the loss for Longwood after giving up seven runs, but only three were earned.
Er'ron Burton came on and was solid in relief. The freshman came on in the third inning and closed out the game. She struck out two while working around six hits without giving up a run in four innings of work.
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