“This is great,” Rojas said after the game. “It’s awesome for us to come out here and win our first game. It was a close game but it was a great game. That means a lot to the team, coaches and everyone. It’s a big deal for us to come out here and beat them like we did today.”

The Black and Gold will make its fourth appearance in a C-USA semifinal contest in the last five years, advancing to the championship game in both 2008 and 2010.

Rojas improved her record to 10-13 on the season with her gem in the circle against the Blazers. She allowed only one run on three hits with two walks and a strikeout in her 15th complete-game outing of 2011.

“Diana had a great, great showing out there,” head coach Renee Luers-Gillispie said. “She stayed calm, poised and did very well getting the big outs when she needed them. She worked all year long on trying to get ahead of hitters and trying to work the whole plate and she did exactly that. Her curveball was working great and she took advantage of that when she could. She kept them off balance and threw some key changeups that kept UAB’s tempo off with the bats. I was very proud of the way she performed.”

Offensively, the Black and Gold scattered seven hits off UAB’s pitching duo of Alisha Smith and Leigh Streetman. Tawny Swan (Gilbert, Ariz.) paced the squad with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate, while Allie Jest (Stone Mountain, Ga.), Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.), Abby McClain (Waterloo, Iowa), Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Patrice Fee (Cocoa, Fla.) accounted for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s additional five hits.

McClain and Lane each scored a run for the visiting Black and Gold, and Kellie Todd (Ocala, Fla.) posted the only RBI for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in the fourth inning.

Every run of the opening-round contest was scored in the fourth inning, with the Knights scoring two in the top of the frame and the Blazers putting up one in the bottom of the inning. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ effectively played the small-ball game to produce runs in that inning, bunting twice to load the bases in the frame and knock Smith out of the contest.

The Black and Gold loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth inning on back-to-back singles from McClain and Lane and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Menendez to open the frame. Todd hit a RBI ground out to second base to bring in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s first run of the contest, before a catcher’s interference call at the plate once again loaded the bases for the Knights. Fee put the ball in play and a fielding error by UAB’s third baseman allowed Lane to touch home safely and gave Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth frame.

UAB cut the Knights’ lead to one run in the home half of the inning on a leadoff walk and a single down the left field line by Kristen McGrath, but Rojas and the Knights were able to hold the Blazers scoreless for the next three innings to advance to the semifinal round of the C-USA Championship for the fourth time in the last five years.

No. 2 Tulsa will stand in the way of No. 6 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ making a return trip to the C-USA Championship Game. The Golden Hurricane defeated No. 7 Marshall, 10-0, in five innings earlier in the day to advance to the semifinal contest vs. the Knights. Tulsa enters the contest with a 42-12 overall record and holds an 8-11 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Black and Gold after sweeping the Knights at Donna J. Hardesty Softball Complex during the regular season.

“Tulsa is just a real tough team,” Luers-Gillispie said. “Pitching is the key for them. You can’t make mistakes against a team like Tulsa or they’ll make you pay. We need to keep it within one run and we’ll have a chance tomorrow. I don’t know if they will throw [Aimee] Creger again but my guess is they will stick with her until she wears down. We have to take care of our own business. We have to slow the game down a little bit and play the small game. If we do those things we have a chance and we should be fine.”

Tiffany Lane (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.) and Ashleigh Cole (Pace, Fla.) all garnered first team accolades, while Hillary Barrow (Miami, Fla.) and Abby McClain (Waterloo, Iowa) were selected to the second team. Marissa Menendez (Tampa, Fla.) rounded out the Knights’ record number of selections by being named to the all-freshman team.

Lane earned a spot on the All-C-USA first team for the second-consecutive year after setting the league record with 21 career triples, while ranking sixth nationally in 2010 with six triples and seventh with a .12 triples per game average. Lane leads the Knights this season in triples, total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.479), while ranking second in batting average (.310), runs scored (25), hits (44), doubles (9), RBI (18) and stolen bases (12).

After being named to the All-Freshman Team in 2009, Land put together an impressive sophomore campaign this season to earn her first selection to the first team. The second baseman paces the Knights in batting average (.317), runs scored (29), hits (46), sacrifice hits (15) and stolen bases (17), and sits among the top-10 in C-USA in five different categories. Land was also recently named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III Second Team for her work both on the field and in the classroom.

Cole garnered first-team distinction after putting together the best season of her career in the circle for the Black and Gold. The senior boats a 21-12 record, making her only the fourth pitcher in program history to tally 20 or more wins in a season, with a 1.53 ERA, five shutouts and 149 strikeouts in 224.2 innings pitched. Cole ranks in the league’s top-10 in eight different pitching categories. Most impressive about Cole’s senior season is the fact that she earned three wins over ranked opponents, including No. 16 Tennessee, No. 9 Alabama and No. 22 Ohio State. In six starts against teams ranked in the top-25, Cole totaled a 1.75 ERA, one shutout, 26 strikeouts and a .198 opponent batting average this season.

McClain was also a repeat selection to the All-C-USA Second Team after being voted to the squad last season. The junior started all 53 games behind the plate for Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ this season, catching 14 runners stealing and picking off one on the basepaths. Offensively, McClain leads Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ in on-base percentage (.399), walks (22) and times hit by pitch (6), while ranking third in batting average (.291), runs (25), hits (43), doubles (7) and home runs (2). Like Land, McClain was also recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) with a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team. With her selection to the first team, McClain is now eligible for the organization’s Academic All-America® consideration.

One of the Knights’ five seniors, Barrow was voted onto the second team after averaging a team-best 0.69 RBI per game as Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s No. 3 batter. The third baseman posted a team-high 36 RBI during her senior campaign, while also leading the squad in runs scored (29), doubles (10), home runs (5) and assists (122). Barrow hit her first career grand slam against Cornell at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Softball Complex, while pacing Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ with eight multiple-RBI games.

One of 11 rookies to be named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team, Menendez earned respect around the league after batting .252 on the season with 38 hits, four doubles, three triples and one home run. Menendez was the only freshman on the Knights’ roster to start all 53 regular-season contests, including 24 at first base, 15 as the designated player and 14 at second base. The rookie posted three-game winning RBI, including game-winners against both No. 16 Tennessee and No. 9 Alabama.

The No. 3-seeded Knights are set to take on No. 6-seed UTEP Thursday in the opening round of the C-USA Championship hosted by Houston at the Cougar Softball Stadium. First pitch for the contest is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ will face No. 6-seed UTEP in the opening round of the C-USA Championship Thursday at 9 p.m. ET at Cougar Softball Stadium.

Marissa Menendez (Tampa, Fla.) added a pair of hits and a walk in the game against UTEP, while Ashleigh Cole (Pace, Fla.) tallied a hit and two RBI.

Cole also earned the win in the circle for the Knights, allowing five runs on 11 hits, while striking out three in her 29th complete-game of the year. The hurler improved her record to a career-best 21-12.

For the third-consecutive contest, Lane scored the first run of the game. The junior led off the game with an infield single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Natalie Land (Mayo, Fla.) and stole third base. With Lane perched a mere one base from home, Hillary Barrow (Miami, Fla.) tallied RBI number 36 on the season with a perfectly placed blooper over the pitcher’s head to once again give Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ an early lead.

It was Lane again who was responsible for giving the Black and Gold a four-run advantage, as she crushed a 2-2 delivery from UTEP starter Stacie Townsend off the scoreboard in right centerfield with runners on first and second in the top of the second. Mary Helen Tyler (Marianna, Fla.) reached base on a fielding error by UTEP’s first baseman to lead off the frame, before Perez put two runners on with a single up the middle of the infield to set up Lane for the three-run shot.

The Miners cut the Knights’ lead to three runs in the bottom of the frame on a solo home run from senior Ashley Ellis, but Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ took the run back in the top of the third on a RBI single to right field off the bat of Cole.

Two more runs scored in the top of the fourth for the Black and Gold, with one coming courtesy of the one-two punch of Lane and Land. Lane reached safely on her third hit of the contest and Land knocked her around with a double to right centerfield. With two outs, three-straight walks would allow Land to touch home and score the seventh run of the contest and extend Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s lead to six runs.

Land finished the game with a double, a RBI, one run scored and a sacrifice hit.

UTEP’s Ellis proved to be a thorn in the Knights’ side in the contest, as she added a two-RBI single to her stat line in the bottom of the fifth to cut Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s lead to four.

UTEP kept chipping away at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s lead after posting single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was able to hang on for the win and complete the sweep.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ softball team is set to compete in the Conference USA Championship hosted by Houston on May 13-15. The top eight teams in league standings will participate in the single-elimination tournament, with the winning team earning C-USA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Heading into her third season at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Lane ranks third in C-USA and holds the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ record for career triples with 15 after having tied for the NCAA Division I lead with eight triples last season. The shortstop also hit .350 with 56 hits, 34 runs and 27 RBI to lead the Knights’ offense and earn a spot on the All-C-USA First Team as a sophomore in 2009.

For her career, Lane ranks second in batting average (.339) and on-base percentage (.421), fourth in slugging percentage (.484) and fifth in stolen bases (35) and assists (258) on the Black and Gold all-time register.

The Knights open the 2010 season at the NTC Elite Invitational in nearby Clermont, Fla., on Feb. 12 with a doubleheader against perennial powerhouses Oklahoma and UCLA.

Season tickets for the 2010 season are only $40 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchase online at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½Athletics.com or through the Athletics Ticket Office by calling (407) 823-1000.