Saturday, March 22
Birmingham, Ala.
1:00 p.m.
Tulsa
16-15, 0
1
at
2
UAB
13-17, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Tulsa
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
6
1
UAB
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
2
5
1
Photo by: Joshua Rogers
UAB Walks-Off Tulsa
3/22/2025 5:26:00 PM | Softball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Golden Hurricane dropped its first American Athletic Conference series of the season, falling 2-1 to UAB thanks to a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh Saturday afternoon at Mary Bowers Field.
Tulsa falls to 16-15 on the season (4-4 The American) with the loss, while UAB improves to 13-17 on the season (3-5 The American) and grabs its first conference series win of the season.
Alexa Hopkins (1-4) was tagged with the loss despite a strong performance in her first complete game of her Tulsa career. She allowed two runs, only one earned, and spread five hits across 6.2 innings of work. She walked three but struck out seven while throwing 118 pitches.
Maci Cole smashed her fourth home run of the season, a solo shot for her 12th RBI. Faith Russell had three of Tulsa's six hits in the game. Celeste Wood and Whitney Holcomb had the other two hits for TU. Holcomb collected her fourth double of the season and now has back-to-back games this weekend with a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hurricane had a great opportunity to strike in the third inning. Russell singled with one out and then Cole reached on a dropped ball by the left fielder. A single from Wood loaded the bases with just one away, but the next two batters each popped out to the first baseman, ending the threat.
Cole gave the game its first run in the top of the fifth. The senior shortstop stepped in with two outs and nobody on. She liked the first pitch she saw, a knee-high pitch in the zone, and lifted it over the wall in left center for the 1-0 lead.
The TU lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff walk was succeeded by a sacrifice bunt and passed ball to get a runner to third with just one away. The next batter tied the game with a double down the left field line. Hopkins got a strikeout and groundout to keep the Blazers from taking the lead.
In the seventh, Tulsa was just a few feet from taking the lead. Whitney Holcomb singled up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Russell hit an infield single to short. Holcomb blew past third and headed home as the throw to first was late to catch Russell. The first baseman was alert to the play and didn't hesitate, coming home to catch Russell at the plate for the final out of the frame.
In the bottom of the frame, UAB also got a leadoff single up the middle. A pinch runner came in and immediately moved to second on a passed ball. The Blazers laid down a sacrifice bunt to get the winning run 60 feet away. Hopkins got a strikeout for out number two. The next batter hit a chopper up the middle. Hopkins got her glove on it, but deflected it away from the charging Cole, allowing the runner to reach safely and the winning run to come in as UAB won 2-1.
Tulsa outhit the Blazers 6-5 in the loss and each team committed an error, but neither error led to any runs. Batters left on base matched the respective hits for the teams.
UP NEXT
The Golden Hurricane will look to avoid the series sweep with Sunday's game three. First pitch is set for noon on ESPN+.
Tulsa falls to 16-15 on the season (4-4 The American) with the loss, while UAB improves to 13-17 on the season (3-5 The American) and grabs its first conference series win of the season.
Alexa Hopkins (1-4) was tagged with the loss despite a strong performance in her first complete game of her Tulsa career. She allowed two runs, only one earned, and spread five hits across 6.2 innings of work. She walked three but struck out seven while throwing 118 pitches.
Maci Cole smashed her fourth home run of the season, a solo shot for her 12th RBI. Faith Russell had three of Tulsa's six hits in the game. Celeste Wood and Whitney Holcomb had the other two hits for TU. Holcomb collected her fourth double of the season and now has back-to-back games this weekend with a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hurricane had a great opportunity to strike in the third inning. Russell singled with one out and then Cole reached on a dropped ball by the left fielder. A single from Wood loaded the bases with just one away, but the next two batters each popped out to the first baseman, ending the threat.
Cole gave the game its first run in the top of the fifth. The senior shortstop stepped in with two outs and nobody on. She liked the first pitch she saw, a knee-high pitch in the zone, and lifted it over the wall in left center for the 1-0 lead.
The TU lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff walk was succeeded by a sacrifice bunt and passed ball to get a runner to third with just one away. The next batter tied the game with a double down the left field line. Hopkins got a strikeout and groundout to keep the Blazers from taking the lead.
In the seventh, Tulsa was just a few feet from taking the lead. Whitney Holcomb singled up the middle and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Russell hit an infield single to short. Holcomb blew past third and headed home as the throw to first was late to catch Russell. The first baseman was alert to the play and didn't hesitate, coming home to catch Russell at the plate for the final out of the frame.
In the bottom of the frame, UAB also got a leadoff single up the middle. A pinch runner came in and immediately moved to second on a passed ball. The Blazers laid down a sacrifice bunt to get the winning run 60 feet away. Hopkins got a strikeout for out number two. The next batter hit a chopper up the middle. Hopkins got her glove on it, but deflected it away from the charging Cole, allowing the runner to reach safely and the winning run to come in as UAB won 2-1.
Tulsa outhit the Blazers 6-5 in the loss and each team committed an error, but neither error led to any runs. Batters left on base matched the respective hits for the teams.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Tulsa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| UAB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
UP NEXT
The Golden Hurricane will look to avoid the series sweep with Sunday's game three. First pitch is set for noon on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Caroline McLendon (6-5)
L: Hopkins, Alexa (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Russell , Faith 1
HR: Cole, Maci 1
RBI: Cole, Maci 1
SH: Rouse, Elle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cole, Maci 1
Batting:
2B: Hannah Miles 1
RBI: Hannah Dorsett 1 ; Hannah Miles 1
SH: Lindsey Smith 1 ; Alyssa Aguilar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bella Wiggins 1 ; Brantlee Wortham 1
CS: Bella Wiggins 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
0
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballIF
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