The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
East Carolina
Baseball Falls To East Carolina
3/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 30, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
East Carolina designated
hitter Adam Stephens drove in
four runs, three of which came on a bases-loaded triple in the second inning as
the Pirates defeated UAB 13-3 in game two of a Conference USA series at
rain-soaked Young Memorial Field Saturday.
The game's start was
delayed 30 minutes as extra preparations were required to remove the tarp and
clear some of the water that soaked the outfield and foul territory after heavy
thunderstorms moved through the Birmingham metro area Saturday morning.
All the water did nothing to
dampen the Pirates' spirits, especially on offense. East Carolina pounded
out 15 hits on the afternoon, three of which came off the bat of right fielder Ryan
Jones.? Six other ECU players had two hits in the game.
The Pirates (17-6-1, 3-4-1
C-USA) broke open the game with six runs in the top of the second inning, with
the highlight coming on Stephens' bases-loaded triple off UAB starter Andre
Parks. Catcher John Poppert also had an RBI double in the inning.
Parks (1-5) faced 14 batters
in one and 2/3 innings, and was replaced by Jeff Brown, who retired the side in the second and went on to
work two more innings.? Parks
allowed six runs on five hits, with two walks and one strikeout.
Stephens added his fourth
RBI in the fourth inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk from Brown that scored
Jones.? Third baseman Bryant
Ward drove in a run with a
fielder's choice and shortstop Luke Cherry had an RBI single in the inning.
ECU scored twice in the
fifth inning as center fielder Darryl Lawhorn drove in a run with a triple to right field that
scored second baseman Jedd Sorenson, and then scored himself on an RBI single
by center fielder Warren Gaspar.
UAB? (8-18, 1-7 C-USA) finally got on the
scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three times as first baseman Matt
Womble hit a two-RBI double to left
field and later scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Matt Gaulden.
East Carolina added two more
runs in the top of the sixth as left fielder Brian Cavanaugh drove in Ward with a sacrifice fly, and Jones drove
in Cherry with an RBI single.
Pirate starter Davey
Penny (4-1) had an outstanding
outing, working seven complete innings and allowing three runs on six hits with
two walks and 11 strikeouts.
?
NOTE: The start time for
Sunday's third game of the series has been moved up to Noon CST.
