SAN ANTONIO — Claire Blount hit two home runs at the plate and allowed just three hits in the circle to lead UAB to a 6-1 win over UTSA and avoid a series sweep on Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
Rylee Rodriguez went 2-for-3, including her team-leading 10th double of the season, to pace the Roadrunners (11-17, 2-4 C-USA), who took both ends of a doubleheader against the Blazers (10-17, 3-3 C-USA) on Friday. Chelsea Parker allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings of relief, while Celeste Loughman had the team's other hit and she scored UTSA's lone run.
Meanwhile, Blount went 2-for-4 with homers in her first two at-bats for three RBIs, while Amy Waters also hit a pair of round-trippers to account for three more UAB runs.
UAB did all of its damage with three runs in the second and three more in the third off the four homers by Blount and Waters. Blount got things started with a solo shot to open the second and Waters followed a Megan Smith single with a two-run blast for the 3-0 advantage.
In the third, a walk set up Blount's two-run homer and Waters tacked on a solo homer to push the advantage to 6-0.
Parker entered the contest in the top of the fourth and limited UAB to just two runners the rest of the afternoon.
Blount kept the UTSA hitters off balance for much of the contest, but Rodriguez collected the Roadrunners' first hit with a leadoff double in the fourth.
UTSA broke through in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of hits and a Blazers error. Loughman and Rodriguez started the frame with singles and Loughman touched home following the UAB miscue.
However, that would be all that the Roadrunners could manage against Blount, who worked around another error in the bottom of the seventh to close out the 6-1 victory. The freshman notched five strikeouts and improved to 5-5 in the circle.
UTSA will return to the diamond for a 5 p.m. matchup at Lamar (12-13) on Tuesday, March 21, in Beaumont.
