March 8, 2002

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford University's Amber Fuller tossed a no-hitter to lead the Bulldogs to a 9-1 victory over Birmingham Southern, but it was UAB's pitching that led the Blazers to two wins at the Magic City Softball Classic at Samford on Friday.

Pitching was the order of the tournament's first day. UAB's Kelli Thompson and Birmingham Southern's Ami Rodgers hooked up in an old-fashion pitching duel in the opening game. Both pitchers threw shutouts over seven innings and forced the game to be settled by the International Tie-break Rule. In the eighth inning UAB (13-7) placed Amber Rouse at second base, she would score on an RBI double by Amanda Ellis for the only run of the game. Thompson (4-1) picked up the win throwing eight shutout innings, giving up four hits and walking two. Rodgers also threw eight innings giving up just the unearned run.

In the second game, between Samford (11-10) and Birmingham Southern (4-20), Fuller (6-3) was wild in the second inning as she walked three batters in a row after an error to give BSC its only run of the day. She settled down an retired the final 11 batters she faced, throwing five hitless innings only giving up one unearned run. The Samford bats took care of the run support. Mindy Shunnarah went 2-4 with three-RBI and Angela Bednark went 2-3 with two runs scored as the Bulldogs won 9-1 in five innings. The no-hitter by Fuller was the first by a Samford pitcher since Brianne Mertens threw one against Jacksonville State on May 3, 2001

The final game of the day pitted Samford and UAB. UAB once again got solid pitching from Kerri Foster (5-3) who threw seven shutout innings giving up four hits and striking out eight. UAB's offense was a two-run home run by Beth Mullins in the first inning and a solo shot by Aimee Vaughn in the fourth inning. Samford's Erin Landsburg (5-7) pitched well giving up only three hits over six innings, unfortunately the three hits were two home runs and a double and the Bulldog bats could not figure out Foster as the Blazers won 3-0. UAB pitchers combined for 15 shutout innings, giving up eight hits, waking two and striking out 13. The UAB bats did just enough as the Blazers only scored four runs on seven hits in their two games.

The tournament will resume on Saturday with UAB playing Birmingham-Southern at 1 p.m. and Samford at 3 p.m. Samford and BSC will conclude the tournament at 5 p.m. The tournament standings now have UAB at 2-0, Samford at 1-1, and Birmingham-Southern at 0-2.