The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Baseball Notes For The East Carolina Series
3/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 28, 2002
THIS WEEKEND'S
SCHEDULE:
Fri. 3/29 * UAB vs.
EAST CAROLINA (7 pm CST)
Sat. 3/30
*?UAB vs. EAST CAROLINA (2 pm CST)
Sun. 3/31 *
UAB? vs. EAST CAROLINA (1 pm CST)
?
THE BLAZERS: Are 8-16 overall (1-5 C-USA) and in the midst of a
five-game losing streak that dates back to the Auburn game on Mar. 19. UAB was
swept in three C-USA games at Charlotte last weekend (Mar. 22-24), and dropped
an 8-3 decision to cross-town foe Samford on Tuesday (Mar. 26) at Young
Memorial Field.
THE PIRATES: East Carolina is 16-6-1 overall (1-4-1 C-USA) and
coming off a 9-5 win at Old Dominion Tuesday (Mar. 26) and a 2-0 win over
Campbell in Greenville, N.C., Wednesday (Mar. 27).? Like UAB, the Pirates are seeking redemption after being swept
in a C-USA series last weekend, ECU dropped three games to TCU in Greenville
(Mar. 22-24). ECU is not currently ranked, the Pirates dropped out of both the Baseball
America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN Coaches' polls after going 1-3 last week.
STARTING PITCHERS:? The
Blazers' projected weekend pitching rotation is:
Fri. 3/29 * Joe
Yarbrough (Sr., LHP, 0-3, 2.54 ERA)
Sat. 3/30 * Andre
Parks (Sr., RHP, 1-4, 6.33 ERA)
Sun. 3/31 * Ross
Dobbins (Sr., RHP, 2-1, 6.68 ERA)
ECU STARTERS:? The
Pirates' projected starting rotation is:
Fri. 3/29 * Sam
Narron (Jr., LHP, 4-2, 3.96 ERA)
Sat. 3/30 * Jason
Mandryk (Sr., RHP, 4-0, 3.00 ERA)
Sun. 3/31 * Davey
Penny (Jr., RHP, 3-1, 3.12 ERA)
THE UAB-ECU SERIES:? The
Blazers and first-year C-USA baseball member East Carolina will be meeting for
the first time when they square off at Young Memorial Field this weekend.
CALL HIM
"GINO": Larry Giangrosso (UAB '75) is in his third season as head coach of the UAB
Blazers.? The Birmingham
native? is? 61-78 (.439)? overall at UAB.?
Giangrosso was named head coach at UAB on June 16, 1999.? Prior to that, he spent nine seasons as
head coach at Central Alabama Community College (1991-99), where he posted a 320-183-1 (.636) record and led
his teams to a state championship (1998) and three conference titles.
Giangrosso also had a very successful stint as head coach at Birmingham's
W.A. Berry High School (1979-90),
where he had a 254-115 (.688) record and led the Bucs to the Alabama 4A state
title (1981), as well as five regional and four Jefferson County championships.
A PIONEER: Coach Larry Giangrosso played baseball for UAB in the mid 1970s, prior to
the establishment of the NCAA-sanctioned athletics program in 1978.? The team competed essentially as a club
program (it was administered by the school's Physical Education
Department), but the baseball was definitely real -- the team competed against
many of the local and state colleges (e.g. Birmingham- Southern) that UAB faces
now (Gino has the letter jacket to prove it).
1K CLUB: Counting his high school, junior college and four-year
collegiate head coaching experience, UAB Head Coach Larry Giangrosso worked his 1000th game as a head coach vs. Auburn on
Mar. 5.
IN THE COACHING BOX(es): At third base, Larry Giangrosso, at first base, Frank Walton.
YOUNG MEMORIAL? FIELD:? Jerry
D. Young Memorial Field is in its
19th season as the Blazers' home field (the program called historic
Rickwood Field home from 1979-83). The Blazers have a 331-203-1 (.620) all-time record at Young Memorial Field (1984-? ) and are 8-8 at home in 2002.
IN PLAY:? The 30-foot
high "batter's eye"
wall in center field, which was once located behind the outfield fence, is now
actually part of the fence and is in play (this became effective at the beginning of the 2001 season after the
wooden fence replaced a chain link fence as part of general stadium
renovations).
THE LAST EIGHT: UAB has struggled mightily over the past two weeks,
going 1-7 overall and 1-5 in C-USA games.
INJURY PROBLEMS:? A
summary of the Blazers'?
injury woes...
INF
*? J.B. Fesmire (back, last played vs. Connecticut
on Mar. 9)?
OF
*? Chad House (knee, missed four games)?
OF
*? Kyle Leon (abdominal strain, missed eight
games)?
OF * Quincy
Williams
(hamstring, played in 18 games but rarely at 100%)?
C? * Al Hecklinski (shoulder, played in eight early
games - will take a medical redshirt).
C * Brad
Bamberg (abdominal
strain, last played vs. Auburn on Mar. 5
C * Brett
Tilley (out for
season after shoulder surgery)?
LEON BACK:? Junior
outfielder Kyle Leon (Guelph,
Ontario/transfer from Charleston Southern) came back off the injured list in
the Charlotte series after sitting out for over two weeks (he missed eight
games) with an abdominal strain that made swinging the bat very painful. He
returned to action vs. the 49ers on Friday (Mar. 22), and has hit .364 (4-11 )
with one double and two RBI in the last four games. For the season, he's
hitting .264 with six doubles and four RBI (16 games).
HOUSE, TOO: Freshman outfielder Chad House (Memphis, Tenn./Christian Bros. HS) -- the
team's leading hitter with a .371 batting average through 19 games
--? sat out for a week after
severely bruising his knee when he ran into the outfield wall trying to make a
play vs. Houston (Mar. 15), House missed four games and returned to action as a
pinch hitter vs. Charlotte last Saturday (Mar. 23).? He is hitting .250 (2-8) since returning to the lineup, and
was back at his usual center field position in the Samford game on Tuesday
(Mar. 26).?
PRIOR TO THAT:? Before
his injury vs. Houston, House was
leading the Blazers with a .396 batting average, he had a team-high 10-game
hitting streak that dated back to the Mississippi State game on Feb. 22, and was leading? the team in hits (21) and multiple-hit
games (7).? He also had a .492
on-base percentage, and had reached base 53 percent of the time when leading
off an inning.
SAY IT AIN'T SO: Senior left-hander Joe Yarbrough (Hazel Green, Ala./Jefferson State CC) has been one
of the Blazers' most effective and consistent starters in 2002, Yarbrough
is 0-3 in six starts, with a very respectable 2.54 ERA (he's worked a
team-high 39 innings) and leads the team with 33 strikeouts (15 looking) vs.
only 15 walks. He does not, however, always benefit from offensive and/or
defensive support. In the six games he has started (UAB is 1-5 in those games)
the team has scored 15 runs (2.5 per game) with 13 RBI (2.2 per game) and a
.203 batting average (39-192), and has committed 14 errors (2.3 per game).
STARTING AT CATCHER (?):?
Recently (for the last 12 games and 17 of the team's 24 to date)
-- junior Justin Miller (Sherwood
Park, Alberta/Colby, Kan. CC), backed up by redshirt sophomore Pete
Giangrosso (Alexander City,
Ala./Benjamin Russell HS). Senior Brad Bamberg (Montevallo, Ala./Central Alabama CC) had started
four of the seven games he had appeared in since returning 2001 starter Al
Hecklinski (Birmingham,
Ala./Faulkner State CC) experienced problems with his right shoulder (the same
shoulder that he had surgery on in the off-season, he will sit out the 2002
season as a medical redshirt). Bamberg suffered an abdominal strain in practice
prior to the Connecticut series
(Mar. 9-10) and has not played since the Auburn game (Mar. 5).
MILLER'S TALE: Catcher Justin Miller is batting .242 overall with one double, one home
run, and seven RBI.? In 17 games as
a starter, he's batting .254 (all of his extra-base hits and RBIs have
come as a starter). In six C-USA games to date, Miller is batting .286 (one
home run, three RBI). He seems to like playing every day -- in two appearances
as a pinch hitter and/or defensive substitute, he is hitless (0-3).
TERRY MAKES BLAZER DEBUT: Freshman Josh Terry (Town Creek, Ala./Hatton HS) was likely to sit out
the 2002 season as a redshirt, but injuries and offensive struggles changed
that, he made his collegiate debut at designated hitter in the Samford game (Mar. 26) and got a hit in his first at-bat (an
infield single).?
FIRST AT-BAT POWER: Junior outfielder Mitch Jones (Chelsea, Ala./Chelsea HS) leads the Blazers with
three home runs through 24 games, all three have come in his first at-bat of
the game, including a pinch-hit game-winner in the bottom of the ninth vs.
Oakland (Mar. 1), a second home run in his next at-bat in game two of the Mar.
1 double-header vs. Oakland, and a tape-measure shot in the second inning vs.
Alabama State on Mar. 12.
FRESHMAN FALLS A FACTOR : True freshman right-hander Tony Falls (Montgomery, Ala./Lee HS) has stepped in as one of
the Blazers' most dependable bullpen performers.? In 14 appearances to date (all out of
the bullpen), Falls has a 2-1 record with one save in 17.2 innings of work
(eight walks, 17 strikeouts).?
Falls got the save in Blazers' 6-2 win over Houston? (Mar.
17), working two scoreless innings, picked up a pair of wins in the Oakland series (he did not allow an earned run in two
complete innings, and had two walks and four strikeouts in two appearances). He
took his first collegiate loss vs. Connecticut in game one the double-header (Mar. 9).
GETTING DEFENSIVE: One of the 2002 Blazers' biggest problems has
been defense -- an area that the team takes particular pride in.? Entering this weekend's series
vs. East Carolina (Mar. 29-31),
UAB has committed 53 errors in 24 games (951 chances) and has suffered the
consequences on more than one occasion.?
However, in the three games vs. Houston (Mar. 15-17), the Blazers made only? one error -- a very borderline misplay
in the outfield -- in 126 chances. In contrast, UAB made six errors in the Charlotte series (Mar. 22-24), many of which were extremely
costly.
PITCHER'S BEST
FRIEND: UAB turned eight (8)
double-plays in the Houston series,
including six (6) in Saturday's game (Mar. 16).? The six twin-killings tied a UAB single-game record, set vs.
Middle Tennessee in 2000.
HOME STAND: The? Houston series (Mar. 15-17) completed an 11-game home stand,
UAB's longest of the 2002 season (UAB went 6-5 in those games).
UAB vs. THE SEC: The Blazers are 1-2 vs. SEC teams in? 2002, with a? 3-1 win over Kentucky at Young Memorial Field on Feb. 17 and a 13-1 loss to Auburn at Young Memorial Field (Mar. 5) and a 9-2 loss in
Auburn (Mar. 19). UAB finished 4-4 against? SEC teams in 2001. Along with its two wins over Alabama, the Blazers also went 1-1 vs. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt and 0-2 vs. Auburn.
BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN GAME
RE-SCHEDULED: The Feb. 27 home game
vs. Birmingham-Southern (which
would have been the beginning of an11-game home stand), was postponed because
of frigid weather.? The Blazers and
Panthers will now face each other on successive nights in May -- Tuesday May
7 on the hilltop at Scrushy-Striplin
Field (6 pm) and Wednesday, May 8
at Young Memorial Field (7 pm).
COMING UP: After this weekend's series vs. East
Carolina, the Blazers return to the
road, playing a return match with Samford on Tuesday (Apr. 2) and then traveling to Saint Louis for a three-game Conference USA series (Apr. 5-7).
